If Only We Would Listen
by JustAnotherGeekyAuthor
Summary: There are so many stories out there, just waiting to be shared. A compilation of Steven Universe oneshots about anything and everything. Headcanons and such may vary from story to story, rated T just to be safe. Enjoy!
1. Wait For It

**A/N: So this is the future author, and in hindsight, I honestly don't like this first oneshot. I highly recommend skipping to a chapter I'm actually proud of to judge this story by, such as: Tell Her I'm Sorry, Remember, The Dragon, The Pearl in the Mirror, Darkness, Strike, or Caverns. That being said, if you want to read my very old and very terrible writing, by all means go ahead. Nothing aside from this first A/N has been edited since it was first posted. **

* * *

I don't really understand time. I know that a long time has passed, but I don't understand how to count it. So I count how many times I see a white powder cover the ground, or when it all melts into water. I try to count, but I don't even understand numbers. I try to remember, I make marks on the rocks around my hole for each time, but then I'll forget, and start again ages later.

I start really counting time when I see them. The warp pad- the name finally comes to me, when I see it- activates for the first time that I've ever seen. It scares me, because I don't understand it. I rush back into my hole, peeking out around the edge to watch as two gems slide down the side of the elevated platform. As they get closer, I can hear what they're saying.

"-don't understand why we need to come back here," the smaller one says, shivering. "It feels haunted."

"I don't like it any more than you, Pearl," the taller one says. _Her hair is funny, _I think. It's a big cube-shaped afro. "But I _know_ we're going to find something here. I just don't know what yet."

"Find what? Garnet, There's nothing here. It's just as desolate as it's always been," Pearl says. "Where are we even supposed to start?"

"Hmm…" She glances around at her surroundings, and I shrink back as far as I can into my hole. Her eyes are covered by a silver visor, so I can't tell where she's looking. "You start looking over that way, and I'll head over here." She points away from me, and I relax for a moment before I realize that means she's coming here. I'm counting the time by the jittery tapping of my hand on the stone, shaking in fear. One-two-three. Ten. thirty. Sixty.

Garnet starts looking in each of the holes along the walls, and I can hear her footsteps slowly getting closer. I press myself as far back as I can, praying she won't notice me. 90, 120, 150. I finally understand the meaning of time.

Garnet's feet appear in front of my hole. I go completely still, silent. She bends down, and her giant afro almost completely blocks off the hole.

"It's okay," she whispers. "I won't tell them you're here, if you don't want."

It takes a moment to process that, but when I do I shake my head vigorously. "Nonono," I whisper, surprising myself. I've never spoken out loud before. "No tell. Don't tell. Don't hurt me."

She smiles, and I can somehow see a look of understanding come across her face. "Don't worry. It's okay."

She backs away, and I'm left alone again. I listen, frozen, as Pearl returns and they share a brief conversation. I hear the warp activate, and I'm alone.

Never before has time mattered so much to me. I count the seconds, the minutes, the hours. Days pass, then weeks, then months. Every day I watch and listen for the warp, just in case, and every day my curiosity grows.

Who were those gems? Why was Garnet so kind? What were they doing here? I have so many questions, but no answers. I keep waiting, and soon I'm watching the warp all day, every day. Somehow, a part of me wants them to come back, even though they scare me. The air turns cold and the snow begins to fall before I finally see the warp activate again.

When they finally arrive, I panic. I'm scared, I can't believe I was waiting for them. I hide in my hole and watch. There's three of them now- the two from before, and a third gem, much taller than either of them. I listen and wait.

"Here? Are you absolutely sure, Garnet?" Pearl says. They haven't really changed.

"Yes, here," Garnet replies. "Rose, let me go first. She'll be scared of you two."

"Of course," the biggest one replies. Rose… rose quartz? Yes, that makes sense.

"I still don't see why you waited so long to tell us," Pearl says. "We could've taken her the first time around."

"She's scared, Pearl," Garnet replies. "She's probably listening right now."

Only now do I realise the 'she' they're talking about is me. I'm scared, definitely, but I don't freeze. I crouch, waiting, in my hole, ready to run.

"Where exactly did you find her?" I hear Rose ask as they slowly approach.

"Right over… here." Garnet's head suddenly fills the entrance again, and I realise I've lost my opportunity to escape.

"You said no tell," I say, backing farther into my hole.

"I'm sorry," she says, and it sounds sincere. "I couldn't just leave you here."

"I'm fine on my own."

"I'm sure you think that, but there's lots of danger out there. I see the future, you know."

That definitely intrigues me. "See the future?"

"Yes. And I know that you can't stay here." She extends a hand. "You can come back and visit, any time."

I'm still not convinced. "Where we go?"

"Back home. Not far from here, I promise. I won't force you to go, but please understand we're trying to help."

I look at her hand, the gem in her palm. Slowly, I reach out and take it.

I allow Garnet to drag me from my hole, into the view of the other gems. I know they're taking in every detail of my tiny form, noticing everything from my hair to my gem. I shrink behind Garnet's leg for protection.

"It's alright," Rose says, bending down. "We're not gonna hurt you."

"Who are you?" I finally ask the question that's been brewing in my mind for months.

"We are the Crystal Gems," she says proudly, "Defenders of Earth."

"She's so small," I hear Pearl whisper. I glare at her.

"Yeah, I'm small. You got a problem with that?"

Garnet laughs. "Well, you've certainly got some attitude.

"What's your name?" Rose asks me, with sincerity I've never heard or felt.

My name. What's my name? It's one of those things you know instinctively, as a Gem. Yet it takes me a moment to drag the word out from the depths of my memory.

"Amethyst."


	2. I Know You Would (Part 1)

**A/N: I love Rhodonite and I want to see more of her. Still waiting for the real story to come out… why the hiatus?! Why?! Also, this is gonna be a two-parter, cause this is way longer than I remembered. So, enjoy part one!**

_Pearl's perspective._

"Pearl. Fetch the papers."

"Yes, my Morganite." That's all I ever say. Always agreeing, never disobeying. I walk carefully, evenly across the room to pick up the stack of papers sitting on Morganite's desk, then bring them back to her. She takes them without looking at me, and continues her work. Another gem is sitting beside her, and they're practically buried in screens and papers. I take my usual place by the wall, waiting in case she needs me again.

Morganite has an entire entourage of gems with her at all times, but the only ones left in this room are me and a single ruby. I wonder briefly why they'd let a ruby in, but then I remember they are notoriously stupid. What's more, this ruby isn't a normal red, but black. She stands beside the door, waiting, as I do.

I remember this ruby. She does a remarkable job of blending in, for one destined to stand out. She has been in Morganite's entourage for many cycles now, almost as long as me, and I've been here from the very beginning. Morganites are very important gems, so of course she was given a pearl from the start. Morganite is an important researcher, inventing new technologies and improving old ones.

Suddenly, I feel her eyes on me, and I carefully look towards her, not making eye contact. She glances at the gem beside her, an emerald.

"Pearl. Ruby. Leave us," she says calmly. I dutifully follow the ruby out the door, waiting for it to close behind us.

"Wonder what they're doing in there." It takes me a moment to realise who spoke, but when I do I look down at the ruby with incredulousness. She looks right at me and smiles. "What? Did you think I never talked?"

"You're not supposed to," is all I can say. She laughs.

"Those doors are soundproofed to keep anyone from overhearing their top-secret plans. It works both ways."

I look around us. We're standing in the antechamber of Morganite's quarters, a room not much larger than an airlock, with another set of door separating us from the main corridor. "I suppose," I say. "I hardly ever get a chance to talk."

"Well of course not," she says. "You're a Pearl. Constantly watched, standing pretty… blech. I'd hate having all those eyes on me."

"You stand out more than I do," I remark carelessly. She doesn't take offense.

"I suppose, but I've gotten good at blending in."

I hear the door opening, and I quickly straighten and stand against the wall as I'm supposed to. Ruby does the same.

"-perfect construction, must start production immediately," the emerald is saying as both gems exit Morganite's quarters.

"I'm glad you approve," my master says formally. I move to open the door for the emerald at the slightest gesture from Morganite, and she leaves with a promise to start production on her work, whatever that may be.

"C'mon, you lot," Morganite says, poking her head out the door. The rest of her entourage comes flowing in, having been made to wait all the way outside during the meeting. I feel rather privileged, having been allowed to listen to part of it. We return to the inner workshop, and morganite's work begins anew.

Life returns to normal, for a time. Morganite takes a problem that needs fixing and engineers a solution, all her entourage acting as the manual labor. Except me, of course. I merely stand off to the side, looking pretty.

Perhaps a week in to the project, during a particularly noisy stage of production, Morganite leaves the workshop and instructs us all to remain. I do not question her- such a thing would be unthinkable- but a part of me wonders what she's doing, all alone. The peridots continue working on the current stage, uninterrupted.

And then that Ruby is by my side again, smiling up at me and pulling back her afro. "Well, wonder what the master's up to now, eh?"

"I try not to," I say. "Asking questions can get you shattered."

"Shame, isn't it?" she looks out at the peridots working, the other rubies lined up against the opposite wall. "There's so much we could know, but we can only listen, and piece it together from what we can."

"You're pretty smart, for a ruby."

"You're pretty bold, for a pearl," she replies. For some reason that makes me blush, and look away. She giggles. "Shy, too. Who knew." I look down at her, filled with wonder, and she smiles. I can't help but smile back.

Here on homeworld, everything is strict. There is no going past the boundaries, no leeway to make mistakes. And among the many things forbidden is to touch a gem of another class.

That's why I'm so surprised when Ruby reaches up and takes my hand. She's blushing against her dark skin, and so am I, but I don't pull away. We stand there like that, hand in hand, until Morganite returns, and she blends in with the other rubies once more.

I silently perform my duties for Morganite, but my mind keeps straying to thoughts of the Ruby. Each day I pray for Morganite to take another outing, to have a meeting where she'll send me out, anything to give me a moment with her. I know these thoughts are silly, of course. I try to stay focused on my duties, and for the most part I succeed. Then something horrifying happens.

I'm waiting beside the door as Morganite inspects the work of the peridots, looking over her latest invention. I don't really know what it is by looking, but I've been listening more lately, and I heard Morganite say something about an energy shield.

"You ignorant clod!" Morganite screams at the peridot, who flinches. "I said 70%, not 75%! Now the whole thing has to be scrapped, thanks to your incompetence!" And she slaps the peridot across the cheek, causing the green gem to stagger backwards. Morganite returns to her desk and sits as though nothing happened. "Restart the process, and get it right this time," she says without looking up. I share a brief glance with Ruby, fear evident in both our gazes.

Each day, Morganite gets worse and worse. First she's constantly berating the peridots, then she's finding issues with the rubies, and each day I pray it won't be me. But, inevitably, the day comes.

It's a tiny slip, really. I drop a paper as I'm carrying the stack across the room, but before I can retrieve it, it lands in a pool of spilled liquid acid, disintegrating the sheet. Morganite sees this, as she sees everything, and stands menacingly.

"My apologies, Master," I say, keeping my voice even. She stays still, watching, as I set down the rest of the papers on the desk, then move to clean up the spill. That is when she strikes.

"Incompetent fool!" she shouts at me, shoving me to the ground. I curl up protectively, trying not to cry. "First them, now you! You're all destroying my work!" A punch lands on my arm, and then my knee. I bite my tongue to keep from crying out. Beyond her, I see Ruby standing against the wall, trembling, trying not to move. I send her a desperate message with my eyes- _save yourself. _

I take another blow, and then another. I'm desperate to release my form, but I don't, I refuse to. Eventually the blows stop, and I'm curled up against the wall, Morganite's form facing away from me. The peridots haven't stopped working, afraid of what she might do. The rubies stand at attention, as always, including my ruby, the black ruby among the red, who despite all her poise still locks eyes with me, desperation etched across her face. I pull myself to my feet and lean against the wall, trying to seem unfazed.

It doesn't work.


	3. I Know You Would (Part 2)

**A/N: Part two! **

_Ruby's perspective_

When I see her being hurt, it takes all of my strength not to go to her aid. I stand, still, silent, watching as she's beaten nearly to the point of being poofed. But she locks eyes with me, and she's desperate, and I read her message loud and clear.

_Save yourself._

I don't want to leave her alone. I wait, and I watch, and when it's over I look at her from across the room, and her eyes meet mine. We're both scared, both dismayed, and neither of us know what to do next.

Finally, after so many cycles, Morganite leaves for an important council, and everyone in the entourage is left behind. The peridots work slowly, methodically, checking and re-checking the instructions to avoid angering Morganite. I catch Pearl's eye, and we go stand in the antechamber, where we're out of earshot.

"We can't keep living like this," she says, twisting one hand into her shawl. "She's just getting worse and worse."

"I know," I say, reaching up for her hand. She's nearly double my height, but somehow it doesn't really matter. She grips my hand tightly, and I tell her "We'll find a way out. I can get transferred easily enough, but for a pearl-" I cut myself off. Pearls weren't simply transferred. They were handmade for their owners, and to have a secondhand pearl was almost worse than having none at all. I look up and see tears blooming at the corners of her eyes, and I realise I'm crying too.

"I'm scared," she whispers, slumping to the floor. "What's going to happen? Things will only get worse from here."

"It's going to be okay," I say, sitting beside her. I know I'm not convincing either of us, but somehow the words help. "We'll be okay. I know we will." and then, impulsively, I reach out and put my arms around her. She freezes for a moment, startled, but then relaxes and returns the hug.

What could be minutes or hours later, she pulls away and wipes the tears from her eyes. "We're going to be okay, Ruby. Somehow. We'll find a way."

"I swear, if she ever does that to you again, I'll fight her myself," I say, and I mean it.

"No!" she exclaims. "I don't want you putting yourself in danger for me."

"I'd do it, you know. I really would," I say. "I'll protect you."

"Ruby…" her voice trails off. She puts an arm around my shoulders, and I lean against her, somehow in the midst of everything still happy. "I know you would. I would too, if I could. But we both know that if it ever comes to that, we'd never be able to show our faces on Homeworld again."

"I know," I tell her, and I let my determination show. "But I'd rather be an outcast than be separated from you."

Somehow, a mutual understanding has grown between us. Every day, Morganite will lash out at one of the gems, even poofing one of the other rubies once. And every time, pearl and I share a glance, and we both know that someday it'll be our turn, and that's when we'll run.

I can't help but think just how unfair it is, how she lashes out. No one makes a mistake in her presence, yet still she finds things to nitpick.

"Stand straight!" she shouts at the ruby three to my left.

"Chin up!" two on my left.

"Don't you look at me like that!" the ruby beside me. The next day, I know it's my turn.

All day, I'm dreading the inevitable. I see Pearl watching out of the corner of my eye, ready, waiting. Morganite approaches me.

"Filthy black," she spits, "you shouldn't have been let into my entourage in the first place."

"I am well aware of your opinions, thank you," I say. Every ruby around me gasps. I see Pearl shaking her head, but it's too late to turn back now.

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" she lashes out at me, and I duck under a blow that connects with the wall where my head was a moment ago, leaving a dent. I dart towards the door, earning looks of awe from all the other gems. Pearl is standing there, waiting, right on time.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Morganite shrieks, her hands clenched so tightly her knuckles are white.

"Getting out while we still can," Pearl says. She takes my hand, and I grin at the shocked crowd, Morganite not daring to approach.

"You've really crossed the line, Morganite," I say. Another gasp. No one calls their superior by their name(sans title), it's just not done. Well, neither is running off with a Pearl, so there.

"You're the one crossing the line!" she's so angry, she's practically foaming at the mouth. She lunges at us, and this time I don't have time to dodge before a fist hits me in the chest, sending me flying backward through the antechamber at the exact same time as Pearl. Morganite looms over us. "You think you can just defy me?"

"Anytime," I shout right back. I'm buying time, and Pearl barely manages to reach over to the panel and open the outer door, and I'm back on my feet, running with her beside me.

"Get back here!" Morganite shouts, so furious she fails to realise that hundreds of gems are watching. Pearl and I run hand in hand, darting through the crowd. But Morganite, despite being a scientist, is still more powerful than both of us.

The pink gem lands in front of us, shaking the ground. A circle clears around us three, gems all around staring in awe. At least four gems are recording the spectacle, no doubt ready to report the whole incident to their superiors.

"You will return to your stations immediately," she tells us, her voice rising to a shout. "Or face the consequences."

"Too late now, isn't it?" Pearl shouts, and she looks so different from the pearl who stood by Morganite's side. She's crouching low, ready to strike or to defend, as though she were made for it.

"Consequences it is!" She slams her fist down between us, and I barely have enough time to dodge. She comes after me first, strike after strike, and I dodge them all. But then I stumble, and that moment is all she needs. A punch connects, a kick, blow after blow, until I can barely stand. I'm weak, vulnerable, and she raises both hands high for a final blow.

"NO!" Pearl's voice cuts through my haze of fear, and she's slamming into me, sending both of us tumbling out of the way of Morganite's blow. There's a blinding light, and suddenly-

_Rhodonite's perspective._

"What the…?" I look down at myself. Two gems; one pearl, one ruby. Half of me understands, the other half is panicking. But I have more pressing issues to worry about.

"Impossible!" Morganite roars. I'm painfully aware of the eyes of the crowd on me, and my instinct is to run as fast and as far as I can. But I can't help but make one last remark.

"I hope you die in a hole, Morganite!" I shout, and then I run. I run through the crowds, standing out far too much but no longer caring. I duck into an alleyway, the routes that only service gems like Peridots take. I make my way deeper, until I find my way to the edge of the main building. A dizzying drop leads down to the abandoned catacombs of homeworld- I'd never make it. But I can hear a crowd following me, searching, and I know I have no choice.

"Hey! Over here!" I turn to see a gem, shrouded in shadow, calling to me from a ledge just outside the building. I glance back one more time before I jump down, landing just beside them. Only now do I realise that they have two heads, two torsos, but one gem. My instinct is to run, but between them and the alternative- well, I don't have much choice.

"This way, quickly!" the left head says.

"Quickly, this way!" the other head says. Strange. I follow them into an abandoned elevator shaft, where they gesture for me to take one of the old cables. I carefully fit one foot into the loop at the bottom, and I'm dangling from the fragile rope. They pull a lever on the wall, and I start to descend, not free-falling but definitely faster than an elevator. I untangle myself as fast as I can at the bottom and wait as the other gem descends.

"Follow us," one head says. Then the other, "we know a place to hide." with nothing better to do, I follow them deep into the empty caverns of homeworld- but then they slide a rock across the ground, revealing a hole leading to an even deeper cave. They jump down, looking back up at me. "You coming or not?"

I jump down, and they reach up to cover the hole. I can hear a robonoid patrol passing overhead. That was too close.

"Oh, Fluorite is going to be so excited to meet you!" left head says.

"Who's fluorite?" I manage to ask. I've never heard of a gem like that. "And who are you?"

"We're the rutile twins," they say in unison. Then left continues, "what about you?"

"I'm-" it takes me a moment to figure it out. I'm not Ruby, and I'm not Pearl. I'm- "I'm Rhodonite."

"Oh, perfect!" they grin. "C'mon. We've got a ways to go yet."

I follow the strange gem through the cave until we emerge in what must be the original kindergarten, holes absolutely everywhere. I shudder, but make sure not to lose sight of my guide. We eventually make it to a smaller cavern, which appears empty at first glance.

"We're back!" they call out. I freeze when I see a huge blue gem emerge from behind the central pillar. A fusion, I realise- she has six gems that I can count.

"Is… that… a… new… gem…?" she asks, her voice very drawn out and slow.

"I'm Rhodonite," I say, suddenly shy again.

"I predict the twins of rutile will bring a new gem!" A small orange sapphire startles me. It's like she popped out of nowhere.

"That's padparadscha," the twins say. "She has the power to predict the past."  
"Heh," I give a nervous laugh. "Um, how long have you all been down here?"

"A… very… long… time…" Fluorite says. "Eons… maybe…"

"And nobody knows you're down here?" I ask, to reassure myself.

"Of course not," the twins say. "Us Off-colors stay hidden, beneath the surface."

"Rhodonite… tell… us… your… story…," Fluorite prompts. They're all looking at me expectantly. I take a deep breath, and let it out.

"It all started with a meeting…"


	4. Explanations

**A/N: Takes place sometime between "Jungle Moon" and "Can't Go Back". I know this one is long im sorry!**

"Hey, Connie!" Steven shouts from the end of the block. "Sorry I'm late."

"Don't worry about it," I grin, and wait for him to stop just in front of me, out of breath.

"I still can't believe this is your first actual birthday party!" He says, following me around my house to the backyard.

"It's the first time I've had friends to share it with," I reply. We round the corner, and all of my few friends are there- Jeff, some girls from school, Lapis and Peridot, and of course, Steven. "So the rest of the gems couldn't come?"

"No," Steven says sadly. "Garnet said they had to go on a mission. Amethyst wanted to come anyway, but Pearl wouldn't let her. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I think keeping the earth safe takes priority over my birthday," I laugh it off, though I am a bit disappointed that they can't come. I let Steven go start devouring everything on the snack table, and head over to my mom.

"Is that everyone?" she asks quietly, barely concealing the still-lingering excitement over my party.

"Yeah, the other gems couldn't make it," I tell her.

She smiles. "Then let's get this party started!"

I don't know what a normal birthday party is like, but mine is mostly playing obscure board games based on my favorite books, some of which I actually made myself. Steven, Jeff, Peridot, and I play a game of Dominion, and the winner is Lapis. Why? She threatened to soak all the cards if I didn't declare her the winner. That's kinda what Lapis is like a lot of the time, now that I think about it.

Eventually people start getting bored, and Lapis and Peridot take off, saying they've "reached the limit on human interaction", which I guess makes sense. We take a break for dinner and cake when the sun starts to set, and it's the best birthday dinner I've ever had.

Most people leave after dinner, but Steven and Jeff stay for my after-party plan. It actually took a lot of courage to get this set up, and I convinced my parents not to let me back out of it. So when we head back into the yard, all the gaming tables are gone, and fast music is playing from my dad's laptop.

"I'm DJ Dad, and I'm here to make sure you have the best time of your lives!" My dad shouts. We all laugh, and then I start dancing. I've never danced in front of anyone but Steven, not even my parents, but it feels good to let loose once in a while. In fact, I'm having so much fun that I barely notice when Jeff leaves, and it's just me and Steven.

Suddenly, the most ridiculous song comes on over the speakers, and I can't help but laugh. It's one of those old songs that's basically just the same rhythm over and over, with a lot of percussion and violins, the sort of thing they'd play in the dancing square of a country fair. Steven and I both burst out laughing, but neither of us ask to change it, and Steven grabs my hand. We dance around in circles, clumsily tripping over our own feet more often than not, but it's still way too much fun, more fun than I've had in a long time. I trip, and Steven catches me, and I can't stop laughing, there's a bright light-

For a moment, I don't realise what happened. Then I see two pairs of shoes beside my bare feet, the pink gem on my stomach-

Connie's parents are staring at me, eyes wide with shock. The music stops.

"I-I can explain!" Is all I manage to say before I fall apart.

"What. Was. That," Mom asks, her tone deadly serious. I glance over at Steven, but he's just as lost and terrified as me.

"Uh…" I'm scrambling for words, trying to buy time. "So you know how gems can fuse…?"

"I can fuse with Connie because I'm half human," Steven says, and I stifle the urge to let out a sigh of relief. "I get that you're probably freaking out right now?"

"Freaking out is an understatement!" Mom exclaims. "Connie, why didn't you tell me about this? I thought we agreed you wouldn't keep secrets anymore!"

"I-"

"How often do you do this? I've talked with Pearl extensively, you know, I know everything I can about fusion, and I know it's not something I want my daughter participating in!"

"But-"

"No buts, Connie. You know what, you're grounded until I say you're not. Which will probably be until you're thirty!"

"No!"

"Honey, I think you're overreacting-" My dad tries to cut in, but he's drowned out by my mother's fury.

"Go to your room, now. Steven, I suggest you go home." She grabs me by the arm and drags me up the steps to the house. I turn and look at Steven for just a moment before the door slams shut- I see fear and confusion, but mostly guilt.

I'm locked in my room, with no computer and no phone. The first thing I do is open my window in the hopes that I'll see Steven on the way out. Sure enough, he's just now walking by below.

"Steven!" I shout, not too loudly of course. He looks up.

"Connie?" He blinks, and he looks so sad. "I'm sorry you got in trouble-"

"It's not your fault, Steven," I cut him off. An idea suddenly hits me. "Listen, see if you can get your dad over here. Maybe he can talk some sense into my parents."

"I'll do that," he says, and he looks a bit happier. "Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see ya." He walks off, and I close my window. Normally, I'd pull out a book and read until someone forced me to go to sleep, but something makes me stop, and instead I pull out a notebook and a pencil.

For the first time since 2nd grade, I start drawing.

Dr. Mahaeshwaren enters her daughter's room to find Connie asleep at her desk, a notebook still open under her head. Gently, she lifts the sleeping girl into her bed, and is about to leave before she pauses and looks at the drawings.

Connie isn't exactly a master artist, but she's not terrible, either. Yet Dr. Mahaeshwaren is still surprised by the amount of skill and effort put into each sketch. They're all drawings of her and Steven, laughing, fighting together, and generally being great friends. She goes back a page to find several sketches of Stevonnie- smiling on a beach, then standing beside Greg, glaring at a badly drawn teenager, battling a gem standing atop a corruption, holding a sword with Garnet in the background, and finally facing off against a bird-blob creature.

_These are her memories,_ Connie's mother realises. _Six times… and how long ago? _

She turns to the pictures of Steven and Connie, and she feels a tiny twinge of guilt, but refuses to give up her stance. She had spoken with Pearl quite a bit after the dinner-party fiasco, and she explained fusion as best as she could. To Dr. Mahaeshwaren, it had sounded far too intimate for any 13-year-old to participate in, and yet her daughter had happily gone along with it 6 times, and in her pictures, she looks happy.

Dr. Mahaeshwaren leaves Connie's room feeling slightly shaken, but still stubborn.

I wake up still wearing yesterday's clothes, and my first thought is that I need to change. My second thought is remembering everything that happened yesterday.

"Darn it," I mutter, and pull myself out of bed. I just hope Steven comes through for me, or my parents won't ever let me out of the house again.

I change into new clothes and try my door- it's unlocked. I quietly make my way downstairs, and find my dad cooking in the kitchen.

"Your mother went to work," he says without looking at me. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks, dad," I say, and sit down. The tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

A few minutes later, he sets down a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of me. I silently accept it and start eating.

"Listen…" Dad says after a few minutes of awkward silence. "I know your mother was pretty upset last night, and I tried to get her to explain. She's just worried about you, Connie."

"I know she's worried, but I can handle myself!" I snap. "She knows I'm fighting monsters and defending the world from evil and all sorts of dangerous stuff, and this is what sets her off?"  
"Connie, do you understand where your mother's mind went when Pearl explained fusion?"

"No, I-" I stop. Knowing Pearl, and knowing how she'd try to explain to humans…

Oh. No wonder she's so protective.

"It's not like that, Dad, I swear," I tell him.

"I know, but that's still what she thinks of. So you understand why she's being like this."

"Are you gonna unground me?"

"Once I convince your mother." He stands and pats my head, dumps his plate in the sink, and heads out the door. I'm alone again, on a Saturday morning, with nothing to do.

I finish my breakfast, go back upstairs, and keep drawing.

Steven calls his dad as soon as he makes it home from Connie's house, and by the way he's still out of breath from running Greg can tell it's important.

"Whoa, slow down stu-ball," Greg says. "I don't get what you're saying."

"I need you to talk to Connie's parents. Connie and I accidentally fused at her party and now they're really freaking out and Connie got grounded and-"

"Okay, I get it," Greg cuts him off before he can start ranting. "How about we head over there tomorrow? I don't think they'll be very receptive to company at 8:00 at night."

Steven sighs. "Yeah, okay." Greg hangs up.

Steven barely sleeps that night, an impressive feat for a boy who could sleep through the Cluster's near-emergence. At 8am the next morning, he rushes over to the car wash, where his dad is just waking up.

"Dad!" Steven shouts, opening the door of the van. Greg is sitting on a pile of clothes with a waffle in is hand, syrup dripping on the floor.

"You don't have to shout, I can hear you," Greg says. "I know you're worried about Connie, but let me finish my breakfast? And get dressed?"

It's only now that Steven notices his father is still wearing pajamas. Steven nods, and sits down against the wall of the van to wait.

"Alright, let's go," Greg says a half-hour later. In a flash, Steven climbs into the passenger seat of the van and straps in. A few moments later, Greg gets behind the wheel and drives them to Connie's house.

At around 9:00, I hear the doorbell ring. I run downstairs to answer it, and Steven and his dad are both standing there.

"Oh! Steven! Thanks for coming!" impulsively, I give him a hug. "I'm really sorry I got you dragged into this, Mr. Universe."

"Oh, it's no problem," he says. "And for the last time, it's Greg."

"Well, I'm really sorry, but my parents aren't home," I say. "They both left for work." I see Steven's face fall and quickly add, "But you're welcome to stay here for awhile! My mom never gave me any rules about having friends over."

"Yeah!" Steven immediately perks up. "We can play board games like you had at your party!"

"Sure, why not?" Greg says, and I step aside to let them in. I pull out the board games and offer them some leftover food, which they happily accept. We play a few games of Pandemic, and at lunchtime Steven helps me make a thorough mess of the kitchen, which Greg and I clean up. But as we're getting later into the afternoon, I notice Steven fidgeting and looking at the door a lot, and I know what he's worrying about. Greg sees this too, I'm sure, and excuses himself to the bathroom.

"Connie, I'm sorry," Steven blurts out the moment his dad is gone.

"For what? You did nothing wrong," I say. "It's not your fault my mom flipped out."

"I still feel responsible, though," he says. "If we hadn't fused, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"If that's your rationalization, then it's my fault too," I point out. "Don't blame yourself. You know my parents tend to flip out over nothing, and I'm sure this'll blow over too. Remember what happened with the sword?"

"Yeah," he says, and he does seem to be relaxing a bit. "Your mom flipped out so much, she didn't even let you try to explain."

"But eventually she listened," I remind him. "Eventually, she gave in. I'm sure she'll understand about this, too."

He sighs, and nods. Right on cue, Greg returns, and we resume our game. I have a feeling he was listening the whole time, but I don't care. I don't.

Around 4:00, I hear someone fiddling with the lock on the door. Steven and I exchange glances- we all know who it is. A moment later, my mom walks in the door, and I look at her with an innocent smile on my face.

"Hey, mom. How was work?" I ask cheerfully.

"I never said you could have friends over," she says in a controlled monotone, as if she's moments away from losing her temper. I don't care.

"You never said I couldn't, either," I retaliate.

"Dr. Mahaeshwaren," Greg stands up, attempting to diffuse the situation. "I have a feeling you know why I'm here."

"Yes," she says icily. "Connie, go to your room. Steven, go… somewhere other than Connie's room. Outside, maybe. Yes, do that."

I don't dare argue, and I run up the stairs into my room. Almost immediately, I hear a tap on my window, and see Steven hovering outside. I open the window and pull Steven inside.

"I always forget you can do that," I say quietly, then carefully crack my door open so I can eavesdrop. Steven joins me in listening through the crack.

"I know you must be very confused right now," I hear Greg say. Good, I didn't miss much.

"I am not confused, I know exactly what I'm talking about," my mom retaliates.

"I'm sorry, but you don't. How much do you actually know about fusion?"

"The way Pearl described it-," she starts, before Greg cuts her off.

"That's not it at all," Greg says. "Let me put it this way; a fusion is like a physical representation of the relationship between its components, and the strength of their bond."

"I don't see how this matters at all."

"Let me finish. Most fusions have extra limbs, extra eyes, stuff like that. But the more stable the fusion is, the less of that they have. Garnet, for example, is an extremely stable fusion. All she has is that extra eye."

"Garnet is a fusion?"

"I'll explain more later. But what I'm trying to point out is that Stevonnie- Steven and Connie's fusion- has none of that. Two eyes, two arms, two legs, perfectly proportional- even Garnet can't say that. Connie is the best friend Steven's ever had, and vice versa. They have the most pure friendship I've ever seen, and you're trying to ruin it."

"I still don't want my daughter participating in this whole fusion thing!"

"They've done great things together, Dr. Mahaeshwaren. Stevonnie saved Amethyst's life once."

"I don't care what they've done, I care about my daughter's future!"

"Dr. Mahaeshwaren, the only way you can keep those two from fusing is to keep them apart. And knowing Steven, knowing Connie, that'll be impossible."

"Just you watch me," she says icily, and I hear her coming up the stairs. I glance over at Steven, but he's already halfway out the window. I close the door, then the window, just in time for my mother to enter my room.

"Connie, Mr. Universe and I just had a chat," she says. "You will not, under any circumstances, interact with Steven again, understood?"

As I listened to my mother talking, my emotions were going all over the place. Now, they've been mostly replaced by anger and frustration, just like that night at the hospital.

"No," I say,my voice resonating with finality. "I don't understand. I don't understand what you're afraid of. You let me fight and put myself in danger for the good of the world, and this is where you draw the line? Mom, I fused with Steven way back when I still had fake glasses. Fusion goes hand-in-hand with fighting to save the world. And now you're saying I can't see Steven just because of that?" I scream at her, and for the briefest moment she seems taken aback- but her surprise is replaced by determination.

"How do you think I feel, Connie? How would you feel if you were in my position? I can't allow you to keep doing this!" She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Alright, you're definitely grounded until you're thirty. You come home straight after school, no cell phone, no computer, and no talking to Steven!" With that, she walks out and slams the door, then returns a moment later to lock it.

I turn and scream into my pillow, then open the window to see if Steven's still there. But his dad's van is gone, along with my best friend.

I don't know what to do, so I draw.

Dr. Mahaeshwaren doesn't want to talk to Connie, so Doug brings her a dinner tray at 6:00. She's sitting at her desk, a pencil in her hand, sketching in a notebook.

"Connie?" he says quietly, and she looks up. "Dinner."

She shoves a few books aside, and he sets down the tray.

"Any luck talking to mom?" she asks hopefully.

"No, but I'm working on her." he smiles and ruffles her hair, then looks down at her notebook. "I didn't know you drew."

"I didn't used to," she says.

"What are you drawing?"

"Here." She flips back a few pages, then shoves the notebook at him.

The first page is filled with drawings of Stevonnie, the second page sketches of her and steven. The third page is mostly of her mother looking angry- one of the drawings gives her demon horns and fangs. The fourth page is filled with drawings of herself, looking sad, and Steven on the other side of a pane of glass.

"These are very good," is all he says. "Enjoy your dinner."

When he comes back an hour later to collect Connie's dishes, she's working on a fifth page; a drawing of her, Steven, and the rest of the Crystal Gems.

School is a living hell. Jeff constantly asks what's going on, and I can't tell him, because he wouldn't understand Gem stuff. I'm receding back into my quiet, bookworm self, except now I'm not reading, I'm drawing. It's become a bit of an obsession lately- I like drawing my emotions, letting it out on paper instead of venting at other people. But that means that half the time, I don't know what's going on in class, and all my teachers are asking if I'm okay.

"No, I'm not," I say to all of them. "But there's nothing you can do about it."

By friday, I've resigned myself to this existence, wallowing through life with no meaning or purpose. But a spark of hope is waiting for me when I get home- a physical letter, sitting on my desk, from Steven.

_Hey Connie,_ the letter reads. _Wish I could call you, but I guess I can't now. I'm really sorry about everything, and I know you said it's not my fault but still. I hope your parents aren't being too hard on you. If they ever change their minds about grounding you, I'll be home every afternoon in case you wanna stop by. Oh, and Pearl says hello, and that she's missing her favorite student. I told her you're her only student, cause I thought that's what you'd say, and she said 'technically you're my student too, and you're both my favorites.' So yeah, that's Pearl for you. Anyway, hope I see you soon! -Steven_

I stare at the letter for a few moments, read it again, then carefully stuff it in my pocket. I'm strangely calm, determined, and excited all at once. This is gonna be fun.

I spring into action, writing a sign that says **HW & MUSIC- DO NOT DISTURB** on it, and tape it to my door. Then I close my door and wedge a chair under the knob to keep it from opening-the lock doesn't work from the inside-and then scribble a note on my desk just in case they come in. I put on a hoodie, stuff the letter in my pocket, and open my window.

My window looks out over the street, and it's a two-story drop. A year ago, I wouldn't have even attempted anything like this. But then is not now, and now, I am Connie the sword-fighting daredevil teenager.

I swing out of my window and just barely manage to grab the gutter pipe at the corner of the house. I climb down fast, not trusting the cheap metal, and land without making a sound. I take off running down the street to the bus stop, and catch the next bus to Beach City.

I'm at the Temple within 20 minutes, and I see Steven sitting on the porch. Unable to resist, I creep silently up the steps, then jump onto the deck and shout "Surprise!"  
"Connie!" Steven immediately gives me a hug. "Your parents let you out?"

"Not exactly…" I admit. "I kinda snuck out."

Steven gasps. "But you never break the rules!"

"First time for everything," I say nonchalantly, though I admit I'm still a little overexcited. "Is Pearl here? I want to make up for the training I've missed."

"Yeah, sure," Steven says. I head off to the sky arena with Pearl, and for a few hours, I'm free.

When I scramble back through my window just before sundown, I find my door open and the note crumpled into a ball and left on my desk. I sigh and close the window after me.

I look at my note. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have been so aggressive, but it's too late now. It reads, **If you're in here, then you probably broke down my door. I don't care. I'm going to Steven's house, and I'll be back by dinner. You're probably really mad, but I don't care in the slightest. I'm done listening to you, I'm done with you freaking out over nothing. I'm 13 years old, and I want my independence. **

You know what? No regrets.

"Connie?" I look up to see my dad standing in the doorway. "Your mother is very angry right now. I barely kept her from calling the police to go get you."

"What was I supposed to do?" I know that my lingering frustration at my mom is clouding my judgement, and I don't care.

He sighs. "I knew I shouldn't have given you that letter. I thought it'd raise your spirits, but this? Connie, even if there wasn't the whole thing with Steven, you'd still be punished. I expect you to come down to dinner and answer for your actions." With that, he leaves the room.

I don't go down right away. Instead I pull out a blank sheet of paper and spend half an hour drawing something very specific. When I'm finished, the paper is filled with a sketch of Stevonnie, with me and Steven in the foreground, and the caption "You can't stop me." Simple, yes, but hopefully effective.

I walk downstairs with my drawing in my pocket, dreading the inevitable. My parents are waiting for me, and my mom looks very impatient.

"What took you so long?" she asks angrily. I say nothing, and sit down in front of my plate.

"Answer me!" she spits out, and again I say nothing, though I do shake my head.

"Oh, so now you're giving me the silent treatment. Very clever," she says sarcastically. I keep eating.

She goes on like this for most of dinner, neither me nor dad saying anything. Finally I'm done, and as I'm passing by my mom on the way back to my room, I place the drawing on the table and leave.

Dr. Mahaeshwaren looks at the drawing with less surprise than she'd expect, mostly because she's too busy trying to calm the raging emotions that make her want to throw her daughter out on the street. She picks up the paper and unfolds it, looking at the drawing with both appreciation and distaste.

"This is her attempt at reconciliation?" she grumbles. Doug quietly leaves.

Dr. Mahaeshwaren rips the drawing in half and throws it in the trash.

It's saturday, and Mom is watching me like a hawk. She even put a camera in my room, creepily enough, so that I couldn't sneak out while she and dad were at work. And she locked both doors to our house from the outside, so I couldn't get out that way. Unfortunately for her, she forgot about the rest of the windows. I don't even care what kind of punishment I'm going to get- I climb out the kitchen window, and take the bus to Steven's.

"Did you get in trouble?" Is the first thing Steven asks when he spots me on the beach.

"Sorta," I say. "My parents don't really know how to punish me more. I'm already grounded."

"They didn't do anything?"  
"Well, my mom put a camera in my room and locked the doors from the outside," I say truthfully. "But she forgot about the windows."

Steven laughs. "When did you turn into such a rule-breaker?"

"Since my parents went crazy," I deadpan. Steven goes quiet.

We head into his house and watch TV for a few hours, and as we're flipping through the channels looking for something that isn't on commercial break, I notice a strange news report.

"Wait, go back!" I grab the remote and change it to the news channel.

"-at the hospital, it has been projected that several dozen patients were killed by the loss of power alone, along with possibly hundreds of staff, patients, and visitors who were caught in the attack. No one knows what caused the explosion, but witnesses report sightings of a giant beast resembling a spider. Authorities are attempting to rescue the survivors, but none of them have emerged from the wreckage."

"That's my mom's hospital!" I exclaim, sending both me and Steven into a panic. "They must've been attacked by a corrupted gem, we gotta do something!"

"But none of the other gems are here!" Steven says. "We can't go off and fight whatever it is by ourselves!"

"Sure we can! I learned to fight so I could protect the world I know, and I need to protect my family!" I declare. "If you're not coming, I'll go by myself."

"No, wait! I'll come!" Steven jumps down from his loft and hands me my sword as soon as I make it down. "If you're going, then so am I."

"Thanks, Steven," I say gratefully. We rush outside, where Lion is already waiting, as if he understands the urgency of the situation just as much as we do. I vault onto his back and pull Steven up after me, and I don't even need to tell the pink cat where to go before he opens a portal.

We land in the parking lot of the hospital, just beyond the news vans. An entire wing of the building has collapsed, and a good portion of it is still on fire. None of it has power, and it's eerily quiet.

Immediately I'm aware of the fact that there's reporters everywhere, their cameras trained on us. I don't care.

"C'mon Steven, let's go," I say, determined. I slide down from Lion's back, and Steven does the same. Lion warps away almost instantly.

We make our way through the rubble towards the destroyed part of the building, trying to locate the monster. But before we find anything, I hear the screams of people in the rubble, trapped and dying.

"We have to help them," Steven says. I nod, and we split up, each of us capable of lifting the heavy slabs of concrete off of people, and each time I see either a mostly-OK human who immediately scrambles to move, an injured patient with broken limbs, or a dead body, staring up at the sky with unblinking eyes. Tears spring to my eyes, and despite my revulsion I drag the bodies out into the open, where others will find them.

Finally, I work my way into the part of the building that's still standing. Steven is there waiting for me, and we continue in silence, listening for the monster.

We both hear it at the exact same time- a tiny clicking sound coming from a room down the hall. We tense, and kick down the door at the exact same time.

But there's no giant spider, just two kids, huddled around someone in a hospital bed with a cast on their leg.

"You need to get out of here," I say as soon as the shock has faded. "It's not safe."

"We can't leave our dad behind," one of them says, tears beading in his eyes.

"Here." I detach the IV stand from the wall, and turn off the brakes on the bed. "Wheel him out the front entrance. We'll stay with you until you make it out."

They nod, grateful, and push the injured man out the door. Steven goes in front, while I take the rear, scanning for any danger.

Just as we make it to the front lobby, I hear a scream coming from one of the upper levels. Normally I'd make sure these people were safe first, but I know that voice. I've heard that scream.

"Mom!" I shout, bolting for the stairs.

"Connie, wait!" Steven shouts. I barely notice, intent on finding my mother.

"I got them out safely," Steven says when he catches up to me on the 4th floor. I just keep running.

We stop on the top floor, and I see that most of the roof and walls are gone, leaving an open space that was once filled with medical equipment. And in that space is a giant spider, fangs literally dripping with venom, and a black gem on its abdomen. My mom is there, standing in front of a crowd of children- this is the pediatric section, I realise. Fear is evident in her eyes, and she's covered in scratches, but she's stubborn as always. I take all of this in in less than a second.

The arachnoid swipes a leg at my mother, but Steven's shield is thrown at just the right moment to deflect it. I grab Steven's hand, and we charge the beast, and before I know what's happening there's a bright light-

My foot slams into the corruption, knocking it away from Connie's mom and the kids. There's a sword in my right hand, a shield hovering over my left, and I instantly understand. I am Stevonnie, and this time, I won't fall apart.

The spider recovers quickly and charges at me, fangs ready to cut me to pieces, but I stand my ground and wait until the last second to jump, harnessing Steven's floating abilities, and stab my sword into its back. It howls in pain, but doesn't poof, surprisingly enough. It must've been a pretty tough gem.

Switching tactics in a blink of an eye, I land on its back, then jump back in front of it. I lead it down what was once the hallway, away from the children and Connie's mother. I don't have time to slow down before I leap out into the air above the lobby, just barely remembering to float. Fortunately for me, the spider doesn't have time to stop either, and goes careening off the edge and down to the bottom floor, making a sizable crater when it lands on its back. I drop down and land on its abdomen, grab the gem with my left hand and yank it out of the spider's body. It poofs, and I bubble the gem before sending it off.

I jump back to the top floor, where Connie's mother is standing in shock, still in the same position in front of the crowd of kids. None of them dare to venture beyond Dr. Mahaeshwaren, but I can see the awe on their faces, the childish curiosity that part of me still knows.

"Let's get you out of here," I say. "I don't know how stable the building is."

Right on cue, a section of the roof in the lobby falls down to the floor. I wince at the loud noise it makes, but stay focused. I lead the way down the stairs, carrying some of the more badly injured kids in my arms, and testing each step to make sure it's safe. I hand over the kids to a team of EMTs from a hospital in the neighboring town, and find myself left alone with Dr. Mahaeshwaren in the courtyard of the hospital.

"Connie… steven…" she says, trying to find the right words.

"It's Stevonnie," is all I say before I allow myself to fall apart.

"I'm not apologising," are the first words out of my mouth, even as I land rather painfully on the grass with Steven beside me.

"No, I-" my mom sighs. "I should be the one apologising, Connie. You saved my life today, and you reminded me of why I let you learn to fight in the first place. You fight to protect, and I let my emotions prevent me from doing the right thing. I should have never forgotten how amazing it is that you're doing what you do, just because you can," she says, then before I can register anything she sweeps both me and Steven into a hug.

"So… does that mean I'm ungrounded?" I ask hopefully.

"You did still sneak out multiple times," she reminds me. "But just for one more week. And yes, I'll make an exception for your training."

I smile. "Thanks, mom.

The End.


	5. Confession

**A/N: wow, this one is old. Written before Diamond Days! I literally just wrote it for one scene (you'll know which one). Enjoy! **

"Pearl. Leave us," my diamond says. I bow respectfully and exit, leaving her alone with Yellow and Pink.

Outside, I see pink's pearl leaning against the wall, her fingers tapping against the surface impatiently.

"Did you hear anything?" she asks, looking at me.

"Nothing of importance," I reply simply, then take my place standing by the door. She sighs.

"Back before the war, I remember, you used to have a habit of collecting strange objects," she says. I blink, surprised that she'd remember. "Find anything interesting lately?"

"No one's asked me about that for millennia," I whisper. "Would you like to see what I've found?"

"Sure."

I reach up to my gem and pull out my latest find, a piece of broken glass, polished enough that I can see my reflection.

"Oh, a mirror," she says. "But it's broken."

"Yes, I suppose I ought to throw it out," I say. "But I've never seen anything like it."

"You mean you've never seen your own reflection?"

"Not before I found this a few cycles ago, no."

"...are you happy? With how you look?"

"I was," I say, looking at the mirror, "but now I'm not so sure."

"You don't have to do what they say, you know," she says, and I look up, surprised. "You can choose for yourself, become the person you want to be. That's what I did, anyway."

"Choose…" I murmur, looking at the shard. I straighten up and put the mirror back in my gem. "That's a silly idea. I'm only a pearl. Pearls can't choose."

"I'm a pearl, too. And look at me," she says, gesturing at the star on her shirt. "I'm a Crystal Gem. I've fought countless armies, I've spent thousands of years on Earth, outside of homeworld's grasp. I've known love, and loss. I lived free. You don't have to be trapped here."

But how can you know what free is, when all you know is a prison?

"I don't understand," I say. "You're… different. Defective."

"Call me what you want. What I am is free," she declares.

Never before had I heard of a pearl making her own decisions. Freedom is a concept I'd never understood, and yet here she is, offering me something I cannot understand.

I don't take the offer, yet. But it plants a seed, something that continues to grow over the next few cycles, as tensions between the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds escalate. Perhaps all they need is something- or someone- to tip the scales.

For a brief moment, I am alone. My Diamond has requested solitude, and so I wait in the antechamber of her quarters, and look in the mirror. I can hardly see through my long blue bangs, and what I can see, I'm not happy with. The blue leotard, the sheer skirt… none of it is me.

I've never been much of a shapeshifter. I change my outfit at my Diamond's request, but never on my own. Yet now I find myself experimenting, changing my hair, my outfit, everything, until it feels right.

My hair is parted to one side, my bangs falling over my forehead but not to my eyes. The leotard is replaced by a v-neck tank top and a skirt that's longer on one side than the other. A bracelet rests on each of my wrists, and in my hair is a tiny hair clip, with a star on it.

I hear my diamond approaching the door, and quickly shift back to my normal form and stow away the mirror. She exits without speaking, and I follow her silently, as I am meant to do.

I see pink's pearl again, while our diamonds are meeting. I glance at my diamond- she is engaged in conversation with Yellow. I take a risk and try talking to pink's pearl.

"Can you tell me more about the crystal gems?" I whisper to her. She seems startled, but the expression is immediately replaced with a wide grin.

"You thought about what I said, then?"

"Yes. tell me more… about freedom."  
And she tells me. She tells me all about the Crystal Gems, about Earth and what it's like, about fighting, and freedom. She even explains fusion, and Garnet's backstory.

I listen, and absorb everything. I have never felt freedom, but now I've tasted it, caught glimpses of it whenever I am alone, and I want to feel it. I want to be free, I want to have a voice.

"You're going back to Earth soon, right?" I ask when she finishes.

"Yes, probably in a few days."

"Take me with you."

Her eyes light up with stars. "Really? You want to come?"

"Yes."

"I'll talk to Steven and the others, I'm sure they won't mind you coming along. Oh, this is going to be perfect!" she does a remarkably good job of being excited while still whispering.

"When exactly will you be leaving?" I ask.

"If all goes well, in 3 days. If not, well, it could be any time."

"...do you know a good place for me to hide?"

"If you can get to pink diamond's ship, you'll be safe."

I nod. "Tomorrow, then. I know you're to meet with White Diamond late tomorrow… I don't want to be caught in the crossfire. And knowing her, you'll end up making a hasty retreat. I don't want to be left behind."

"I think that's the most you've ever said to me!"

"Don't get used to it." Still, I can't help but smile.

As Blue Diamond ends her rest cycle, I wait near the door. I am prepared. Today is the day I will leave, once and for all.

I know this place better than anyone. Every passageway, corridor, and service tunnel. I'm the only gem who knows about the service entrance behind blue diamond's… I wouldn't call it a throne, but it seems wrong to just say chair. Behind her throne, is a tunnel originally used by service gems to make small repairs and clean when she's not here, but these days the room is always flooded with her tears. Hence, my escape plan.

"My diamond," I say, blocking her route to the exit. "I have a confession."

"What do you mean, confession?" she is perplexed. Even after everything, she doesn't understand.

"I confess, that although I have served you for millennia, I have found that happiness and freedom is more rewarding than servitude." with that I leap into the air, light as a feather, and land on top of the doorframe, looking down on the diamond. "I must confess, that I have never been happy here, and that I have discovered a place and a people where I belong. I can't stay here."

"Insolence! I'll have you shattered!" she lashes out, tries to grab me, but I'm too fast, running and jumping onto her arm, up to her shoulder and onto her head.

"I confess, that I have been collecting objects you thought were broken, these tiny things that you say serve no purpose, and yet, they are beautiful."

"Where…?! Come out here! Answer for your insolence!"

"I confess, that when I look in this broken mirror, I don't see beauty. I see a shell, a false front, the gem you wanted me to become." I shapeshift into my new form, my true form, and flip off of her head to the high back of the throne. "How about now?"

"You will return to your post this instant or I will have you shattered!" she screams at me.

"You know what? No. This isn't a confession." I dodge another attempted grab. "This is a declaration. I have never belonged here, and now I declare, I'm done. You've lost, Blue Diamond. What kind of leader can't keep her own gems in line?"

"Stop this now!" Blue diamond declares, and everything is tinted blue as her aura envelops the room. A tear runs down my cheek, and I wipe it away.

"Really, blue." I land on the arm of the throne. "I've had to deal with your emotional meltdowns for millennia. Did you think that would work on me?"

I dodge as she attempts to crush me, and press my palm on the panel to open the entrance to service tunnel.

"If I see you again, you'll be the one who's going to be shattered." I slip inside the tunnel and close the door behind me, running off into the dark.

I turn a few corners and stop to take a breather. Now everything I've done hits me like a speeding train, and confusing emotions well up inside me, yet my first response is to laugh.

"Can't believe I did that…" I murmur aloud, sitting down and leaning against the wall. I take a few deep breaths, and my gem begins to glow, projecting a map that guides me to the exit, right at the landing platform where pink diamond's ship is waiting. Two amethyst guards are at the door, looking bored, and as I watch a third, smaller amethyst emerges from the ship.

"Anything interesting happen?" she asks.

"Nah, boring as always. No sign of the crystal gems, either," one of the guards says.

The small amethyst sighs. "What's taking them so long? It's been days, they should have at least checked in by now. I hate it when I miss out on crystal gem stuff!"

"Hey, don't sweat it," the other guard replies. "I'm sure your friends will be back soon."

Immediately, I can piece it all together. If this amethyst is a Crystal Gem, then surely the Pearl must've told her about me! Unless they haven't been in touch… still, I'm willing to take the risk.

I exit the service tunnel, directly in the amethysts' view. Immediately, the two guards get into a fighting stance, while the Crystal Gem just looks intrigued.

"No one is allowed to be here!" one guard says.

"Least of all some pearl," the other one scoffs.

"Guys, we talked about this," the Crystal Gem says. "Hey, ain't you Blue D's pearl?"

"Not anymore," I say. "I ran away. I need to go to Earth."

That has her intrigued. She walks forwards, and the guards relax. Clearly, she's like a role model to them, or even a leader, I might say.

"You sure don't look like a Homeworlder anymore," she says, examining my new form. "You look good! And is that a star?" she points to my hair clip.

"Yes. I hope you don't mind…"

"Nah, I think it's cool! Oh, but let me give you the test."

"Test?"  
"To see if you're Crystal Gem material," she says, a devilish grin spreading across her face. "So tell me… who do you belong to?"

"I… I belong to nobody."

"Congrats, girl! You'll be a Crystal Gem in no time!" She leads me onto the ship, giving a thumbs up to the guards on the way in, and closes the door. "Oh, what should I call you? It'd be pretty confusing to have two pearls…"

I pause. I could be Blue- that's what yellow's pearl always called me, anyway, but it just doesn't feel right to define myself like that.

"Pearl said the sky on earth is blue," I say, more to myself than to Amethyst. "So you can call me Sky."

**A/N: I'm running out of oneshots! Oh no! Whatever shall I do? **

**That is to say, please give me some prompts!**


	6. A Study on Fusion

**A/N: So my brain went to a weird place today and this is the result. Enjoy my completely random drabble!**

Fusion is different for everyone.

Most fusions are formed for power. There's a reason they were the Crystal Gems' ultimate weapon, during the war; fusions are simply stronger, larger, more powerful than any gem could be on their own. Homeworld saw this, too: they had their own fusions, even gems specifically designed to fuse, but never did they allow cross-gem fusion. Why? Because they were afraid.

Fusions between gems of the same type is like, to use a math metaphor, merely multiplying a variable. If ruby is x, a five-ruby fusion is 5x. But when gems of different types fuse, you're adding a new variable to the equation. If ruby is x, and sapphire is y, Garnet is xy.

This metaphor may have gotten out of hand. The point is, cross-gem fusions are powerful, much more than fusions within a gem type. The Diamonds were afraid, because they knew that fusions posed a true threat; that if enough gems were to fuse, they could truly rival the Diamonds.

Homeworld understands the threat that fusions pose, yet in a way they are also sadly ignorant. Homeworld never could understand the true beauty of fusion. The Crystal Gems could.

Some fusions are formed for love. A mutual understanding and desire between two gems, wanting to share their lives with each other, wanting to be close, forever- that, homeworld could never understand.

Garnet may have been the first, but she was not the last. So many gems, all flocking to Earth, to a place where they could be free. For them, the power of fusion was merely a side benefit; it was the simple act of being together that they cherished.

Homeworld was afraid of what they could not control. They were afraid, but too curious to let it go. It was Yellow Diamond who took advantage of all the shattered gems from the war; took their broken pieces, and turned them into something useful. Something dangerous, experimental, _wrong_. Yellow diamond knew this, when she started the forced-fusion experiments. But she kept working anyway, because she was a gem of practicality, and she would not allow for her soldiers to have died in vain.

She never let herself dwell on the fact that she was rewarding them with everlasting pain.

Some fusions are forced in existence, twisted and malevolent. Collections of broken shards, wanting only to find the missing parts of themselves, being trapped with gems they don't know, don't belong with, unable to escape.

_Fusion is a choice,_ Garnet told steven. _Those gems weren't given a choice. It isn't right. It isn't fusion._

Blue Diamond knew this. She knew, and she did nothing to stop Yellow. She was too busy wallowing in her grief.

Some fusions are desperate. Some fusions are last-ditch attempts to gain the upper hand, to turn the tide in battle. The Crystal Gems are certainly guilty of this; but at least for them, they knew what would happen, and agreed to it.

Lapis told herself she didn't have a choice. That if she didn't fuse with Jasper, she'd be poofed or shattered, and then Steven would be hurt too, and it would be her fault because she didn't do anything.

She told herself this, but she couldn't even convince herself.

The ocean was right there. Even after the ship crashed, she knew she could defeat Jasper with a single thought, right then and there. She knew she could, but she didn't.

Lapis is afraid. Not afraid of Jasper- she knows, now, that she can defeat her if she ever comes back. No, Lapis is afraid of herself. She's afraid of the part of herself that wanted to fuse with Jasper, the part of herself that loved being Malachite, that loved that constant struggle, that loved taking all her anger out on Jasper, locked away at the bottom of the sea-

Lapis has forgiven Jasper, for pressuring her to fuse. But she has yet to forgive herself.

Some fusions don't know what they are, at first. That's okay. After all, relationships are complicated, and as long as they're happy, it's okay not to know.

Stevonnie didn't really know who they were, the first time they formed. They didn't know what they were built on. There was a deep friendship there, for sure, so they settled on that for now- but Stevonnie knew, better than Steven and Connie did, that there was something more beneath the surface, that neither of them would admit to.

Stevonnie knew it would take years for Steven and Connie to admit this. They knew that in those years, they would build trust, come to rely on each other, and grow together in ways even Garnet couldn't predict. Stevonnie knows that someday, they may be here to stay.

Fusion is different for everyone. Garnet knows this. Stevonnie knows this. Opal, Sardonyx, Sugilite, Alexandrite, Smoky Quartz, Rainbow Quartz, Sunstone, Obsidian- they all know this. They've always know this.

Fusion is different for everyone. Every fusion knows this, and respects it. But there is one constant, something that cannot be ignored.

At the heart of ever fusion is a relationship. No matter what form it takes, it is there; and for the best of fusions, those who are uncoincidentally the most powerful, that relationship is built on trust and communication. For the closest of fusions, being fused isn't like losing yourself. No, being fused is like coming home.


	7. Albatross

"I can't believe how many Crystal Gems there are!" Steven says to Pearl, looking out at the ever-increasing crowd in Rose's fountain.

"You should've seen us back during the war," Pearl says. "There were thousands of us, all united behind Rose's cause… many of them gave their lives in that war. I wish I could remember them all."  
"Well, even if you can't, I bet they do," Steven suggests.

"It's alright, Steven," Pearl says with a smile. "I think some of them might prefer to be forgotten."

Steven glances at Pearl, her expression unreadable. He could try to comfort her, but he's still not sure how. He settles for changing the subject.

"We should go meet everyone!" Steven says. "The sooner the better, right?"

Pearl laughs softly. "Right."

Steven and Pearl weave their way through the ever-growing crowd, meeting and reuniting with gems from the past. Pearl smiles through it all, wiping away her tears before Steven can see them.

"Hey, Albatross!"

Pearl stops in her tracks. Slowly, she turns around to see Snowflake Obsidian and Biggs Jasper waving from the edge of the crowd.

"Who's that?" Steven asks.

"Why don't you go find out?" Pearl says, and lets Steven lead the way.

"Albatross! Good to see you, how ya been?" Biggs asks, smiling and holding her arms up for a hug. Pearl shys away, shaking her head silently.

"Pearl? Why are they calling you that?"

"You don't know?" Snowflake asks, bending over to look at Steven. "Oh, you're post-war, right? Well, let me tell ya, this gem here was our best fighter on the battlefield!"

Biggs interrupts, "She could shapeshift into an albatross, and sneak up on the enemy! And when she attacked, she'd grow huge, almost as big as a diamond!"

"Whoa, really?" Steven exclaims, eyes wide. "Pearl, you really did all that?"

"...yes," she admits.

"Aren't you one of the ones who's been around this whole time?" Snowflake asks. Pearl nods mutely. "I bet you're pretty rusty after all this time, huh?"

"I'm not rusty. I've been dealing with you lot while you were corrupted."

That clearly stings, and Snowflake backs off- but it's not enough to dissuade Biggs.

"Then you've gotta be better than ever! C'mon Albatross, you gotta show us what you're made of! 'Specially if this little guy hasn't seen it yet!"

"No," Pearl says. She sighs, and looks away. "I left that part of me behind in the war."

"Leave her alone," Steven says gently. "See ya later, okay?"

"Alright," Biggs says, disappointed. "See ya, Steven."

"Pearl? Are you okay?" Steven asks. Pearl just keeps walking- away from the crowd, away from those memories, away from what she'd rather forget.

"Pearl?" He grabs her hand, but she shakes him off. The warp pad. She needs to get to the warp pad.

"Pearl!" Steven runs after her, jumping into the warp stream. They land at Steven's house, half-ruined as it is, and Pearl runs out the door. She doesn't know where she's going- she just runs blindly, she needs to get away.

"...pearl?" Steven asks hesitantly. She's sitting at the top of the hill, and it's dark out. She doesn't know how long she's been here.

"I'm alright, Steven," Pearl says, but she knows Steven won't be convinced. She can't even convince herself.

"I get it, Pearl," Steven says. "Or at least, I think I do."

Steven waits for a reaction. He gets none.

"You haven't shapeshifted since the war, right?" Steven asks. Pearl nods her head slightly. "Is it because of mom?"

Slowly, Pearl nods.

"It felt like lying, after that night," Pearl whispers. "I didn't want to keep any more secrets."

"But you lost something along the way," Steven finishes the thought.

Pearl turns away, looking out at the horizon.

_Just a pearl._

_My pearl. _

**Renegade.**

**Crystal Gem.**

**Albatross.**

_Runaway._

_Liar._

**Pearl.**

"Pearl?" Steven asks hesitantly. "Do you want me to go?"

"No," Pearl says a little too quickly. "Stay. please."

Steven sits down beside Pearl and puts an arm around her, comforting her the only way he can.

_You're just a pearl._

**That's right. I am a pearl!**

_I do it for her._

**I do it for me.**

_I left that part of me behind in the war._

**But maybe I can find it again.**

Pearl gently shakes Steven's arm off and stands, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

"Pearl?" Steven asks. She smiles down at him, then looks up at the stars.

"Do you remember, Steven, when I wanted to show you the stars?" Pearl asks quietly.

"Yeah…" Steven says warily.

Pearl smiles. "It's so much easier than I thought."

Pearl walks to the edge, and jumps.

Steven gasps, and looks over the edge. He's blinded by a bright glow, followed by a blur sweeping past him into the sky.

Steven smiles as Albatross flies into the distance.

**A/N: I mean, everyone already calls her Bird Mom...**


	8. Fear

Connie has no fears.

At least, that's what she tells herself.

In truth, she's terrified.

She's terrified when she sees her first corrupted gem, at the age of twelve, on the first day she met Steven Universe. She's terrified, but she's also clear-headed. She runs, and she looks, and she listens. She gives Steven the bracelet, and lets him handle it, because in that moment it's the best thing she can do.

Connie is afraid when Steven accidentally takes her to a magic gem place, which she will later find out is his mother's armory, and a 'robot shooty thing' attacks them. She runs for her life, and knows that she could die at any moment, but she is filled with something greater than fear, something she'll come to recognise in the future.

Connie is relieved when they escape, and as the adrenaline fades she goes back to that self-deprecation that has ruled her life up until this point. Her entire life she's been told that she wasn't good enough- by her parents, by her peers, by everyone around her, until she finally met someone who she could never hope to be equal to- and yet, he didn't care.

Connie loves Steven Universe, in more ways that one. She loves how he can see the good in everyone, even when he could be above them in almost every way. She loves that he sees her as a person, that he cares about her, instead of getting stuck on her dorky glasses and shy nature. It's no wonder she has a crush on him. At the same time, of course she wouldn't be brave enough to do anything about it, not when this friendship is the only thing that matters to her in this world.

She's scared, when the robot returns to interrupt their conversation. She watches in awe as Steven pulls a sword out of Lion's head, but she doesn't have time to stare for very long, as the incoming barrage of elemental orbs requires her immediate attention. Almost without thinking she takes hold of the sword, Steven and all, and blocks the incoming projectile. She's still afraid, of course she is, but she's not going to let it get the best of her.

The robot is defeated, and Connie feels triumphant.

Connie used to fear stares. She used to fear the looks people gave her in the halls, the poorly masked giggles as she went by. The looks of pity and disgust, the laughter that followed her no matter where she went. She used to be afraid of that. She used to care what they thought.

Not anymore.

Connie no longer cares what her classmates think of her, because she knows one person who cares, and that's enough for her.

Connie laughs as she theatrically drives away the pigeons threatening her and Steven's jam snacks. She doesn't laugh when Steven takes that as a sign of her potential to be a fighter. She's afraid, when Steven proposes the idea to Pearl; afraid of rejection, that she could never be good enough, and afraid of acceptance, for she doesn't know if she is ready.

But she is driven, and between the two, she'll pick acceptance any day. So she fights for it, with the only weapon the world has granted her yet; the words she's been sharpening since age one. She may not be ready for swords yet, but she'll get there soon enough.

She's afraid, the first time she goes up against a holo-pearl. How could she not be, after steven's reaction? But she's determined, and Pearl's guiding hand leads her in learning the first few steps. By the end of the day, the steady rhythm of _parry, parry, thrust _doesn't scare her anymore.

It gets harder, of course. Each day she trains, she learns more, faces harder challenges, and every time she starts scared; but by the end of the day, she isn't scared any more.

When she reaches what Pearl calls "level ten", she's always scared. At this level, her holographic opponent is unpredictable, able to strike from any angle, and Connie is constantly on her toes. She is afraid, always, but she has learned not to let that fear control her. She's doing this for Steven, and she won't let him down.

Connie is _terrified_ when Steven enters the arena during her test. The fog is so thick, that if he moves too far away, she won't be able to see him. What kind of knight would she be if she couldn't protect him when it matters?

But Connie realises something, when Steven protects her with his shield. She will always be afraid, she knows that now, but that fear will not consume her. Because the one thing stronger than fear, is courage. That, Connie has learned to have.

Connie is afraid, when she throws herself at Blue Diamond. Many would say she's foolish, to go up against a gem giant by herself. But a certain half-gem, and many others beside him, would correct them.

Connie used to say she was afraid of nothing. Now she knows that she has reason to be afraid. She knows that without that fear, she could have never learned to be brave.

**A/N: Thanks for reading & please review!**


	9. Paralyzed

Malachite was paralyzed.

She had been for her entire existence.

From the moment she was born she knew exactly what she was- a vessel, a tool for power, a cage that two beasts fought in.

She had power. Immense amounts of it. But without the synchronization of her components, she simply didn't have the will to harness it.

Lapis and Jasper. She watched them passively, feeling their pain as if it were hers- after all, she was them in a sense. She was the one being chained to the ocean floor, it was her body that was unable to move while the storm raged on in her mind. It was her eyes that would occasionally open, and catch a glimpse of the world, of a fish passing by or a stray bit of dead kelp, floating down to the ocean floor. Sometimes, if Jasper and Lapis were tired enough, she could move her hand and catch it, look at the dead piece of kelp, and wonder about the world above that she'd only caught a brief glimpse of.

Then the storm would rage on, and she'd be paralyzed once more.

After months of staying frozen, the storm ended. For an instant, Malachite thought that maybe they'd finally let her take the wheel for a change- but no. Lapis was submerged deep in her mindscape, and Jasper had taken charge.

Malachite watched while Jasper piloted her to the surface.

Of course the Crystal Gems showed up. Malachite had mixed feelings towards them- Lapis was ambivalent to most of them, and absolutely adored Steven. Jasper saw them as enemies, and absolutely hated Steven. Combined, these canceled each other out. Malachite was left to make her own opinions on them.

Personally, she didn't understand the mindless destruction Jasper wreaked on the island. The little watermelon people didn't have anything to do with the Crystal Gems, however much they resembled Steven; they were just living their lives on that island. Demanding sacrifices from them seemed a bit harsh.

Malachite knew it wasn't personal when Alexandrite fought her- or rather, fought Jasper, through her. She felt every blow that Alexandrite landed, as did Jasper and Lapis. Malachite let them feel all the pain, though she knew she could shield them from some of it if she wanted to. They were the ones who put her through this- they deserved to suffer.

Malachite didn't hate the crystal gems, even though they fought her puppeted body. They knew they were really fighting Jasper- they probably didn't even realise she had a personality at all.

Malachite was relieved when the damage was enough that she finally unfused.

When Malachite was reborn, she was free.

She didn't know what had happened. For her, an instant ago Lapis and Jasper were fighting for control. Now they seemed perfectly content to synchronize, and let her take the lead.

She opened her eyes to a battlefield. Memories flooded her mind- no more than she needed, but enough that she had to take a moment to process them. They were fighting gems, those who were against the new system Homeworld had implemented after the rise of the Crystal Gems.

Their symbol was a triangle.

Knowing how to identify her enemies, and knowing that Lapis and Jasper would warn her if she went awry, she attacked.

Malachite had power. Now that no one was tying her down, she could use it. The Malachite that fought that day was ten times more powerful than the puppet Alexandrite had fought way back when. How long had it been? Two and a half years, Lapis supplied. Malachite wasn't surprised.

When the fighting was all over, the attackers fleeing, Malachite took a moment to sit on the beach and rest. She was in no hurry to unfuse, though she knew she'd have to soon, but she wanted to enjoy this freedom for just a little longer.

She took a moment to examine her updated form. No longer did she wear a diamond on her chest, but a star. She had four arms and two legs, as opposed to her previous four-legged form. She wasn't quite as massive as last time, but perhaps that was for the better. She liked her slightly more compact form- it made for an easier time fighting, with more concentrated hits. Plus, she didn't seem nearly as monstrous as before.

"Hey, Malachite," Steven said nervously. Malachite turned to look down at the boy with a smile.

"Hey Steven. Long time no see, right?" She said. She paused for a moment, reflecting on how different her voice sounded from the strange layering of Lapis and Jasper's voices that had dominated previously. It was cohesive, and wholly her own.

"Heh, yeah," Steven said. Something about her demeanor must have spoke to him, as he relaxed and jumped up to her shoulder. "How you doing?" he asked.

Malachite smiled. "Never better."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked it! To be honest, for this one and the previous story, I just went on a random word generator and kept scrolling until I found something inspiring. Bet you can't guess what this one was B). But seriously, I had a lot of fun writing this one even if it is kinda short. Please leave a review with feedback! Do you like these short one-shots, or should I try to write longer stories? are there any characters you want to see? Tell me!**


	10. Tell Her I'm Sorry

"Rose, you have to tell them," Pearl said. It was midwinter, and Rose was heavily pregnant with Steven. While the rest of the gems were chatting with Greg, Pearl and Rose were atop the hill over the temple, engaged in the same argument for the fifth time.

"You know why I can't do that, Pearl," Rose said. "If they found out now… everything would fall into chaos. You don't need that now."

"If you don't tell them now, you won't ever get a chance to," Pearl said. "They need to know, Rose, no matter how much you deny it. I won't be able to tell them, so you have to."

"No," Rose said. "I won't do it, Pearl. That's final."

Pearl sighed. "I know."

She turned away, and Rose thought the argument was over. She started to get up, when suddenly Pearl was in front of her again.

"What about your child?" Pearl demanded. "Wouldn't you want them to know? Wouldn't you want them to know who you were? Homeworld won't stay away forever, Rose. How else will you protect them?"

"You'll protect them," Rose says. "And so will Amethyst and Garnet. And eventually, they'll be able to protect themself."

"Rose…" Pearl shook her head. "We won't be able to protect them forever."

"I want them to grow up without having to live up to the image of a Diamond," Rose said. "I want them to be free to be whoever they want to be, without constraints. Don't you see, Pearl? If they know, they will never truly be free."

"Would you rather they be dead?!" Pearl exclaimed. "I know how much you want this, Rose, but think reasonably! If Homeworld ever comes back, we're in no shape to fight them without you! Our best bet is to call a truce, using your former status to our advantage. But that wouldn't work if no one but me knows!"

"I've made up my mind, Pearl," Rose said gently. "Homeworld's not coming back here anytime soon, anyway. If they were going to they would have done it by now."

"You know what I mean, Rose," Pearl says. "They deserve to know the truth."

"sometimes it's better to live a pretty lie than an ugly truth," Rose said.

"Oh really? Is that what you thought, when you first saw the Earth? When you saw the truth of what colonization was doing to it?"

"That was different."

"You're lying to them, and you have been for thousands of years. What was that you said, about being free to make our own choices? How can we do that if you don't tell them the truth?"

"It's not a lie, just a secret."

"A lie of omission is still a lie, Rose!" Pearl exclaimed. Rose looked away, her resolve unbroken.

Pearl turned away with a sigh. "I'm really not going to get through to you here, am I."

Rose remained silent, but unbeknownst to Pearl, a single tear was trickling down her cheek.

"Fine," Pearl said. "If you won't tell them, then I will. I'll figure out some way how, I don't care how long it takes. No seal is unbreakable," Pearl looked over her shoulder. "Is it, Rose?"

Rose refused to look at her.

Pearl shook her head and walked away.

* * *

Once Pearl was gone, Rose stood up and whistled. A pink lion appeared out of a warp almost instantly.

"Hello, Lion," Rose said with a smile. Lion rubbed his head against her, pressing his ear against her stomach. He purred softly, then bent down so Rose could get on his back.

"Lion, take me to the legs," Rose said.

They warped to the desert dump where Rose kept all her old things from before the war. No one but her and Lion knew where this was, not even Pearl.

Rose pulled an old chest out of the rubble, still intact even after sitting there for thousands of years. She smiled, then picked up Greg's camera, which she'd 'borrowed' and brought there earlier, and started recording.

* * *

Steven or Nora, whoever you may be, when you're watching this, you're probably old enough that you understand your gem and powers, and you know far more than I could ever teach you. But there's something that you can't possibly know, and that's why I need to tell you.

By now, you know about Homeworld. You know about the Diamonds, and all the horrible things they did to this planet. What you don't know is this.

Pink Diamond was never shattered. The shattering was faked, as a way to end the war. After all, I couldn't have shattered her… because I was her.

I used to be Pink Diamond. I used to think that my purpose was to colonize and build and expand this empire, but I never found joy in that. I couldn't bear to see organic life destroyed at the hands of my armies, my kindergartens. I tried to stop it, believe me I did. But I was the lowest of the Diamonds, the youngest. They didn't listen to me, no matter how much I begged. Had I abandoned the colony, Yellow would've taken over in my place, and the earth would have been doomed.

I had no choice but to stand and fight. But I knew no rebellion would follow a Diamond, defective or not.

So I became Rose Quartz, to be the leader they needed to see. I regret so much about that war, and I wish there was a better way, but there wasn't.

I wish I had known about Corruption.

I faked my own shattering so I could end the war. So I could end the fighting, so that the Crystal Gems could be free on Earth. I didn't really understand how big of an impact that would have on Homeworld. I didn't realise how far the other diamonds would go.

There are so many things I regret, but know this; I will never, ever, regret deciding to have you. You'll do great things someday, I know it. You'll be able to do so much that I never could, because you're human. You can change, and adapt, and no matter what the world throws at you I know you'll be able to overcome it.

And one more thing…

Tell Pearl that I'm sorry.

* * *

Rose ended the recording, put the tape in the chest, and put the chest in Lion's mane.

wiping away her tears, she mounted Lion, and warped back to the hill.

the others never even knew she was gone.

* * *

Sixteen and a half years later, Steven would find that tape, and cry as he watched it. He'd walk up to pearl, with the tape in hand, and whisper,

"Mom says she's sorry."

* * *

**A/N: well that one turned out differently than I expected. Fun fact, the original title for this was Lie of Omission, after I went on a random word generator again looking for ideas. As you can see, the final product was nothing like what I originally intended. But that's just how writing is, I guess. No plan survives first contact with the page.**

**Also please review I'd really appreciate it!**


	11. Moving On

I used to love you, Rose.

I used to, but now, I can't see past all the lies you told. Everything you did to me that I didn't have the will to say no to.

I used to think you were perfect.

I couldn't bear to let that image of you go.

Only when you're gone, can I see past that perfect facade. Only when you're no longer here can I cast aside the programming that made me see you as a Diamond, perfect and unflawed. Only when you're gone can I see how you struggled, and how you failed.

We all fail. We all struggle. But you did so much that I can never forgive.

I used to love you.

But now, I've moved on.

* * *

You said I was perfect the way I am.

You never told me what I was supposed to be.

Thanks for that, I guess.

I never knew what I was missing.

Did you ever think about what would happen when Homeworld came to earth? Did you think about what would happen the first time I met another Quartz?

Of course you didn't. You only thought about yourself.

Thanks for nothing, Rose. Your idea of protection only made things worse.

I'm glad Steven's nothing like you.

I cried when you left. When you decided to leave us. Do you know how much that hurt me? You were like a mother to me. I couldn't live without you.

No one ever saw. Pearl, Garnet, they had no idea how shaken up I was. Everyone was busy dealing with Pearl, anyway. She really took it the hardest.

I used to miss you. I still do, I guess. But your memory doesn't dominate my life anymore.

Sorry, Rose. I've moved on.

* * *

You told me that we were the answer.

I didn't question you, back then. A part of me wishes I had.

If I had questioned you, I would have learned to find my own answer.

I would have learned that I don't need your validation.

Instead, it took me 5,750 years to finally realise how much you lied.

I realised that I'd been following your advice like it was a lifeline.

I didn't know who I was anymore.

Did you ever think about what would happen when your lies came forward? Did you ever realise how those lies could taint the truth?

If it weren't for Steven, I might not be here right now.

I found my own answer. Not by following you, but by following my heart.

I am made of love, and you were made of lies.

We all missed you when you left. I nearly split over it. But I had to be there, for Amethyst and Pearl. Amethyst would disappear for days on end, and Pearl… she fell apart, and me and Amethyst had to hold her together.

Not that it did much good.

Poor Amethyst. She really is the best of us, after all. She never based her self-worth on others' opinions like we did. She never relied on you.

But she still missed you.

She just didn't want us to see it.

You left behind a mess when you left. It was up to me to pick up the pieces and put the Crystal Gems back together.

I missed you when you left.

But now, we've moved on.

* * *

**A/N: The gems went through so much because of everything Rose did, and what she didn't do. It's not fair that Steven has to deal with everything she left behind. **


	12. Hiding

Jasper has been hiding for two years.

As soon as she was healed, she had been suddenly thrust into a world entirely unfamiliar to her, a world where the Diamonds happily conversed with her greatest enemy, where she was surrounded by Crystal Gems she'd thought were dead.

She couldn't deal with it.

The crystal runt… Amethyst… tried to talk to her. Her first instinct was to hide, submerge herself in the water and never return. Then she realised that was utterly stupid.

So, she ran.

Jasper spent a lot of time wandering. Climbing mountains, exploring caves, anything to keep her mind off of what she'd seen. She'd only caught a few things on her way out, but she remembered one all too clearly;

_Rose was Pink Diamond._

Everything she thought she knew, was a lie.

After a month of continuous wandering, Jasper started slowing down. She'd stop to rest occasionally, pause and observe any human settlements she came across. She took note of the life around her, and its ever-changing patterns.

She was so used to the monotony of Homeworld, that it scared her at first. The first time she saw a spider, she could barely keep herself from running in the opposite direction. But she stopped, and watched as it wove a web of near-invisible fibers.

Slowly, over the course of the next year(and then some), she began understanding why her Diamond would give up so much to protect this place.

After all, where else could such diversity flourish?

Eventually, Jasper stopped wandering. She'd found a place, deep in a rainforest, where she could be alone, surrounded by the nature she'd come to love. A cave, filled with crystals that seemed to glow when the setting sun shone on them. Day after day, she would explore the forest, never going too far, and return there at night to sleep. Not much sense in doing anything with no light to see by, after all.

* * *

One day, she noticed the ants. Hundreds, thousands, millions of them marching in a line, carrying tiny bits of leaves. She followed them to their home, this tiny hole in the ground. She wondered what lay beneath.

Once, she would have destroyed the anthill in order to see what lay beneath. Now, she simply sat and watched.

The ants reminded her of Pebbles. Tiny workers, nearly impossible to tell apart, working tirelessly at whatever job the Diamonds had assigned them.

Jasper wondered who the Diamond of the ants was.

She wondered why none of them left. There was nothing to stop them, nothing to keep them from making their own way in the world.

One of the ants was limping. She noticed only because it had so disrupted the pattern she'd been staring at.

It had a drop of tree sap around one of its legs, impairing its movement. It struggled on anyway, but with every step it had to pry its leg off the ground again.

Two other ants stopped beside it, the procession rerouting around the limping ant. The two ants tugged at the sap, removing it from the first ant's leg. Eventually, it stepped out of the remains of the drop, and re-joined the procession. The other two ants picked up their leaves and continued on towards the colony.

That was the difference between them and gems, Jasper realised. She used to think that imperfection was the enemy of all things good, but how could that be, when she saw what these ants had created? If a pebble had gotten stuck like that, she'd have been left for dead, or shattered for incompetency.

She understood now, why the Crystal Gems helped each other up.

At that moment, Jasper finally let go of the past.

She'd never been the best at, well, feeling. But in that moment, seeing those ants in their never-ending procession, she suddenly felt the guilt well up inside her. She knew, now, how wrong she'd been for so long. She knew what she'd done wrong.

She knew she didn't deserve a second chance. But she had a feeling that Steven would give her one anyway.

But… she wasn't ready to face him, or his friends, quite yet.

* * *

Jasper returned to her cave. There was hardly anything inside to indicate that it was lived in- just a pile of leaves that she slept on. And of course, the odd crystal shard from when she'd been too careless.

The thing about naturally-forming crystals is, when they break, they become _sharp._

Jasper had been wearing a diamond for far too long. She took a long shard, its point sharp enough to break the skin at even the lightest touch, and plunged it into her neck.

When Jasper reformed, she felt so much _lighter_, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It had, both literally and metaphorically.

Her new form was so different from everything Homeworld had expected of her. Her hair was short, falling only to her chin, and far poofier than before. She wore a crop-top with a circle on the front, a vest with a small star on the collar, and shorts. Her feet were left bare, so she could feel the dirt between her toes.

Jasper had never felt more at home.

Jasper left her crystal cave, only slightly sad at leaving her temporary home. She had places to go, and it would take her awhile to get there.

It was a week's hike to the nearest warp pad. Jasper shapeshifted into the form of a bird, and made it in just under two days.

She stopped at the warp pad. She wasn't quite ready to go straight to Steven… but maybe she could find someone else to bring her up to speed.

Jasper warped to the Beta Kindergarten.

* * *

The kindergarten was quiet. Too quiet. After living among the jungle's constant din for a full year, it took a moment for Jasper to adjust to it.

Then she heard voices.

"This is it?" one asked.

"Yeah. wow, this brings back memories. Can you believe it? I came out sideways!" she laughed. Jasper made her way along the canyon, towards the voices. She looked around the corner, and saw two quartzes standing beside a malformed exit hole. A Jasper, tall and skinny, and a short Carnelian.

"Yeah, too bad mine's gone now," Skinny said. "I always wondered why you were the shortest."

"Hey, it's not like it's my fault!" Carnelian laughed. "Did you wanna look where yours was, or just go?"

"Let's get out of here," Skinny said. They turned around simultaneously, then froze upon seeing Jasper. No matter how much she'd changed, Jasper knew her gem would make her recognisable no matter what.

"...hello," Jasper said. Her voice was hoarse from underuse, and uncharacteristically soft.

"It's you," Skinny said. "No one's seen you in years."

"Who's this?" Carnelian asked.

"Oh come on, seriously?" Skinny said. "The ultimate Jasper?"

"Ohhh, that one," Carnelian said. She glanced over at jasper, then said "she looks different than you described."

"It's been awhile," Jasper said. She shouldn't be nervous, but she was.

"What are you doing here?" Skinny asked.

"I'm… trying to find out what's been happening while I was gone, I guess," Jasper said after a moment.

"Where have you been, anyway?" carnelian asked.

"Hiding," Jasper said bluntly. "In a forest."

"Why?" Skinny questioned.

"It's a long story."

"So? We've got time," Carnelian said. "Let's hear it."

* * *

Jasper waited, fidgeting nervously with her vest. She stared at the warp pad, unable to look away for even a second. Finally, it activated.

Skinny and Carnelian returned, joined by Amethyst.

"This is who you wanted me to meet?" Amethyst said.

"Trust us," Skinny said. They walked down from the warp, stopping a few feet in front of Jasper. Jasper looked at the ground, unable to meet Amethyst's gaze.

"Well, something definitely has changed," Amethyst said after a moment. "The Jasper I knew wouldn't have ever been left speechless."

Jasper couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing.

"You're right about that," she said upon regaining her breath. "Good to see you again, sis."

"It's been what, two years?"Amethyst said. "Where have you been?"

"Long story," Jasper said. "I just…" and then she was shy again, stumbling over her words. She _really _wasn't used to dealing with people.

"Yeah?" Amethyst said, waiting patiently.

"I'm sorry," Jasper blurted out. "For everything I said back then. I-I've learned a lot since then, and I understand now, and I don't want you to hate me."

"Hey, it's okay," Amethyst said. "I forgave you a long time ago."

It was then that Jasper knew everything would be okay.

* * *

**A/N: my headcanon for why Jasper didn't show up in the movie trailer, and why she'll have her real redemption arc in season 6. Jasper is a really fun character to write, so I'll probably do more of her.**


	13. Remember

"Pearl," Morganite said, "Stay here, where it's safe. I'll come back for you."

So Pearl stayed, standing on a rock in a barren, battle-torn wasteland. She watched the sunrise as she patiently waited for her master to return.

One sunrise turned into two, then ten, then several thousand. Every day she prayed for Morganite's return, so she could continue to fulfill her purpose, but it never came.

Pearl had done well, or so she thought. She never spoke, unless she had to. She listened, and completed her tasks. But she had a fatal flaw.

Pearl could not remember.

She remembered important things. Her facet and cut, who her master was, and the fact that she had no long-term memory. She remembered things for a short while, long enough to complete whatever task she was given.

She knew, from the moment she was made, that this was wrong. The next day, she could not remember why, but she knew she had to hide it.

She found ways around it. Her pocket dimension turned out to be instrumental; as soon as she got her hands on some paper, she could take mental notes to review later. When Morganite planned something well in advance, or if she learned something new about the world. Thus, she remembered.

When Pearl was only a few hundred years old, she met another Pearl. She didn't remember this pearl, but the pearl remembered her. The other pearl knew what was wrong with her, and said nothing; but she slipped her a note, secretly, as their masters were conversing. Pearl read it quickly before storing it in her gem.

It read, _My name is Card. Don't forget me. _

Within her gem, Pearl's surface pearl sketched Card's face, her gem placed on her cheek, so she would remember.

Thousands of years later, Pearl watched a brilliant light shine down from the sky, bathing everything in white-blue-yellow light. She watched it, and she felt something, but it did not affect her.

She drew that blinding light, so she would remember it.

Later, knowing what it was, she'd wonder how she had survived. She'd never find an answer, or if she did, she chose not to remember it.

(but she did know. She knew that she had changed that night, but she did not remember it. She'd forgotten she had changed, so she simply changed back)

After the light, there was nothing. No gems, no battles in the distance, not even any organic life.

So Pearl waited.

She occupied herself by watching the world around her. Every sunrise, birds would fly in from the forest on the horizon, picking worms out of the muddy ground. Every time it rained, the worms would come to the surface of the soil, and eat the small plants that were established there.

Pearl drew that land many times. First, when she had only been there a few days. Then a hundred years later, when the field had turned to grassland, and lichen had begun creeping up her rock.

She didn't move. The last order she had received was simple: Stay here. She'd written it down, but it had no date, so she had no way of knowing how long she'd stood there.

She began to suspect, after a time, that she'd been there quite a while. Her third drawing depicted the area once bushes were established, young trees only slightly taller than she was, and a few birds and squirrels in their branches.

At her fourth drawing, she knew far too much time had passed. The once-battlefield was now a forest, trees towering hundreds of meters over her and several meters thick, with abundant life roaming through it.

Pearl noticed, with a start, that the moss and lichen on her rock had begun to crawl up her form, establishing itself on her ankles. She wondered whether to get rid of it, then decided she might as well let it grow. After all, she could always take care of it later.

She noted it down in her journal, and went back to watching.

* * *

Much later, when the lichen was halfway up her thighs, she saw something new, and strange. She'd been drawing much more lately, keeping track of the individual creatures in the forest, and the time that had passed. So she noticed immediately when something was different.

A creature came out of the woods. At first she thought it was a gem, that she was finally going to go home, but it wasn't. It was an organic, with dark brown skin, wearing a loose knitted robe over a cloth tunic with a woven leather belt around their waist. They were barefoot, covered in scratches, and their clothing had several tears.

They stopped and looked at Pearl, and she looked back. She didn't move, but she was already sketching, making notes on this strange new creature.

"...hello?" they said. She was surprised to understand it. How could an organic speak Gem so well?

The war, of course, she realised when she reviewed her notes. These intelligent organics must have picked up the Gem language during the war.

"Hello," she said, as it was only polite. The organic jumped back, startled.

"You spoke," they said.

"Yes," Pearl said. There was a moment of silence.

"Who are you?" they asked.

"Pearl, facet 7, cut 9OL," she recited. "Owned by Morganite, faced 4, cut 3IR."

"Let me rephrase," they said. "What are you?"

"I am a gem," Pearl said.

"Really?" the organic stepped cautiously forward. "What's your name?"

"I am Pearl, facet-"

"No, no," they cut her off. "Your real name, not all those numbers. What do people call you?"

Pearl, in her gem, looked at the piece of paper Card had given her. It seemed strange, to have a unique name such as that, but Pearl understood it enough. Card had served a Jade; she worked in the ancient library, doing the impossible task of copying all the ancient texts to digital systems. So her name made sense, at least to Pearl.

But Pearl had no purpose. She had no memories to draw on. All she had was…

"Void," she said.

"Void. I like it," the organic said. "I'm Kasey, by the way."

Pearl knew she shouldn't ask questions. But she had a time limit, and she couldn't help herself.

"What are you?"

Kasey smiled. "Finally, a solid question. I'm a human."

"What is a human?"

"Well, me. Um, generally the same shape I guess. I dunno how to describe it, since it's normal to me."

Void nodded, writing down Kasey's words to the letter.

"Have you ever seen another gem?"

"Yeah, actually," Kasey said. "Another Pearl, I think. I feel kinda bad for her. She's locked up in my… former home."

Now this had Void interested.

"What was her name?"

"I don't know," Kasey said. "I never had a chance to ask."

"What did she look like?"

"Um, green-tinted? Gem on her cheek?"

_Card. _

Void wanted to find her. Desperately. Card was the only one who knew, who could help her figure out how much time had passed and what happened after the war. She remembered that, at least.

But her orders dictated that she stay here.

"Can you bring her to me?"

"No," Kasey shook her head. "She's under heavy guard in the center of the city. I couldn't get her out if I wanted to. Besides, I wouldn't go back there for anything."

"Why not?"

"It's complicated," Kasey said. "Basically, those particular humans are a bunch of jerks who don't care about each other. I couldn't be a part of it."

Void understood that. She didn't have much record of it, but she knew that Morganite wasn't kind to her. Morganite cared for her in the way that one might care for an expensive trinket, nothing more. Sometimes she was straight up cruel. Void was glad that she didn't remember that… but at the same time, grateful that she had those few records, tear-stained pages that reminded her of her past pain.

"Then take me to her."

"That's not a good idea," Kasey said. "They'd just capture you, too."

"I've been here for thousands of years, I think," Void said. "It won't be much different."

"Well…" Kasey thought for a moment. "Alright, then. But I can only take you as far as the city wall. You're on your own past then."

Void nodded. Kasey beckoned for her to follow, and for the first time in a long time, she took a step. With lichen still clinging to her legs, she hiked through the forest, all the while reminding herself that she was going to find her friend.

* * *

When they reached the city walls, Void was awestruck. Homeworld had gleaming towers and gigantic cities- but she remembered none of it. She hadn't bothered to draw them, since she saw them so often it didn't matter. She was only left with a faint impression of grandness.

This city impressed her. Rough stones piled atop each other and cemented into place to create a massive wall, which to her seemed as if it could stop a Diamond. Humans wearing chainmail armor stood at the gateway, holding spears.

"Well, this is it," Kasey said. "Good luck, Void."

"Thank you," Void said. Kasey turned and ran into the forest, leaving Void alone.

Void quickly drew the wall. She didn't want to forget it.

There was a silver lining to her memory loss. Over the years, Void had gotten very good at reading a situation.

The guards would not welcome anyone they deemed a threat. A gem, even a Pearl, could be seen as one, as they were so strange compared to humans.

So, Void shapeshifted.

She mimicked the guards, as closely as she could, then tweaked a few things to seem like a different human. She was still tinted pink, of course, and had no weapon, but it would have to do.

She followed the road away from the city until it went around a bend before walking out onto it. She ripped her tunic and rusted the armor, then added several apparent scratches to her skin. She hunched herself over, committed to favoring her left leg, and set off down the path.

The guards, upon seeing her, reacted positively, or so she assumed.

"What happened to you?" one of them exclaimed, dropping his spear. The other held onto his, though he was still clearly concerned.

"A wild beast…" she said, modifying her voice to resemble theirs. "Taller than the trees!"

"A monster," the second guard said. "We need to get word to the king immediately!"

"Come, let's get you to a medic," the first guard said.

"I'll manage on my own," she said, and began limping towards the gate. "Keep watch for the monster!"

"Of course," the first guard said. The second ran into the city, presumably to warn the king. Void realised she probably shouldn't have put them on high alert, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was finding Card.

She limped through the streets, observing and sketching the humans as she went. They seemed so strange, so alien, yet strangely familiar. They appeared so similar to gems, yet they acted so differently.

She followed the paths to the center of the city, where a temple had been erected. She saw a group of humans enter, each wearing identical brown robes, so she slipped into a dark corner and shapeshifted to match them, then rushed in behind them.

Inside, the temple was lit by candlelight. A cage stood in the center of the temple, iron bars containing whatever was inside. Being a gem, Void's eyes adjusted instantly.

It was Card. Shivering, broken and battered, sitting on the floor of the cage as far from the bars as she could get. The hooded figures circled the cage; Void stood off to the side, next to a figure who held a torch.

"Today," the apparent leader said solemnly, "we continue our ritual to appease our Lord by torturing the hellspawn temptress!"

Void understood almost none of that- the language must have shifted more than she thought. But the word Torture stood out loud and clear.

"Please," Card whispered. "Please, no more. Haven't you done enough?"

The hooded figures closed in on her, each holding a metal rod over a candle until it turned red-hot. They lifted their wands and aimed them towards the cage.

Void saw the desperation on Card's face, and knew she had to act.

"That's enough," she said, casting off her disguise. The hooded humans turned towards her as she set her gem aglow, brightening the entire room.

"You," Card gasped. "You remember me."

"How could I forget?" Void smiled.

"She's in league with the Devil!" the leader screamed. "Capture her!"

"I don't think so," Void said. She snatched the torch from the figure beside her and held it like a spear, threatening the oncoming forces.

The humans stopped just out of her reach, knowing full well what damage fire could do. But one crazy, stupid human charged forward anyway.

Void caught him by the neck, holding him out at arm's length. He struggled as she slowly choked him, then gasped for air when she finally released him. He ran.

One by one, the others ran too, until only the leader and the torch-bearer remained.

"I know what you are, hellspawn," the leader said. "I know what your kind have done!"

"Do you?" Void said softly. "If you knew anything about gems, you'd know that both of us are Pearls. We're worthless. We're slaves, made to stand about looking pretty. And yet I still beat you all in a fight. So what does that say about you?"

The leader ran.

"You do not know how long I've been waiting for this," the torch-bearer said. They pulled back the hood of their robe, revealing a square gem where their left ear should be.

Yet they still appeared human.

"I guess we didn't need the plan after all, huh Olson?" Card said, tearing up a bit.

"What are you?" Void asked.

"My name's Olson," He said. "I'm half gem, half human. My mom was Jade, card's old master. I have all her powers and stuff, but none of her memories."

"Interesting," Void said, making a note of it and sketching his face.

"Mind getting me out of here?" Card asked.

"Oh, right," olson said. He produced a key from his pocket, and unlocked the cage, allowing Card to crawl out.

"Good to see you again," Card said to Void.

"Likewise," Void said. "How did you end up here?"

"It's a long story," Olson said. "We should probably get out of here."

"Right. Come on, we don't have a moment to lose," Card said, grabbing Void's hand. Void didn't protest, and followed them through the streets of the city and back into the forest.

If anyone tried to follow them, they were certainly left in the dust.

"Do you have a name yet?" Card asked Void later that night, as they sat by the campfire while Olson slept.

"Yes," she said. "It's Void, and I don't think I'll ever forget it."

**A/N: Wow. I did not expect this to turn out the way it did. Originally, this was a 300 word oneshot about this Pearl watching the world grow around her, but somehow it turned into… this. I'm really happy with how it turned out, I might need to add this into a different story I'm working on… but I'm probably never going to finish that so… **

**Anyway, please tell me what you thought of this in the form of a review! It would mean a whole lot to me as a writer to know that people are actually reading my stories and care about them enough to give me feedback. **

**I hope you enjoyed, and never stop dreaming!**


	14. Fight or Flight

Lapis never asked to be a Crystal Gem.

She never asked to come to earth, to be trapped, to go through everything that she did.

Yet at the end of the day, she regretted none of it.

After all, how could she turn her back on Steven, the one who saved her time and time again?

And yet she'd done just that.

Not once, not twice, but three times.

Still… could you blame her?

* * *

Like organics, every gem has a set of fight-or-flight instincts. Thanks to the nature of their kind, however, it tends to be a bit skewed in either direction, depending on the gem type. Quartzes, for example, would almost always choose to fight rather than retreat. After all, that's what they were made for.

A Lapis Lazuli would turn and run every time.

* * *

Lapis was caught off-guard when the battle began. One moment she was going about her duties, terraforming a section of coastline, when the Crystal Gems appeared from the north. Before she had time to react, squadrons of quartzes appeared from the nearby base, and the battle began.

She stood there on the beach as the battle raged around her, frozen. All of her instincts were screaming at her to run, but a part of her wanted to stay, wanted to fight.

Then, she was poofed from behind.

Even before awakening in the mirror, Lapis knew she would never lose an opportunity to run again.

* * *

As soon as she was free, after thousands of years in the mirror, she tried to run. She tried to escape, but her gem was cracked, and she was stuck.

Steven healed her, and she rewarded him by flying back to Homeworld, not realising that she was leaving her true home behind.

Lapis Lazuli ran that day, and she ended up captured again, and on her way back to the planet she'd just escaped from. She couldn't bring herself to run, not even when Steven offered her a way out. A part of her needed to stay and fight.

On the beach, Jasper asked her to fuse. On Homeworld, a Jasper would have no trouble taking on a Lapis Lazuli. But that was because Homeworld had no water.

The ocean was right there. She could have ended it all so easily.

But she didn't.

Because a part of her wanted Jasper to suffer just as much as she had, even if it meant she shared that suffering, too.

Lapis ran, and at the same time, she fought.

Never did she consider that someday, she'd lose.

Fortunately, she didn't have to win, thanks to Steven.

* * *

Lapis Lazuli was scared of only two things in all her life. Jasper, and the Diamonds. Once Jasper was bubbled away, she thought maybe she could rest a little easier, but when Steven told her about his trial- all her deepest instincts kicked in, and all she could think about was that she's _not safe here._

So she ran. And she tried to take her home with her.

Halfway out of the milky way, she realised that the barn wasn't a home without her friends in it.

Lapis had regretted a lot of things in her life, more than she could count. But what she regretted most was leaving when she knew, deep down, she should have stayed.

Steven asked her to come back. He said she'd be welcomed. But she wasn't ready to face them just yet.

* * *

The What Ifs never ended. What if the Diamonds showed up? What if the gems hated her? What if, what if, what if.

All of that stopped when Lapis saw the two Diamond ships approaching Earth.

What if Steven got hurt?

What if they harmed the Earth?

What if she did nothing, and regretted it more than anything?

She picked up the barn and followed the Diamonds to Earth.

Lapis knew then that the time to run and hide was over.

Now was the time to fight.

* * *

**A/N: short little Lapis thing 'cause she's one of my favorite characters! Well, they're all my favorites really (but Garnet is definitely on top). Also, I'm starting school again soon so for the few people following this, I probably won't be uploading as frequently come september, every other week most likely. Or maybe I'll end up having a ton of inspiration from the movie to compensate for the lack of writing time, so who knows. **

**Please leave a review and tell me what to write next! **


	15. Spinel

**A/N: While this is technically about the movie, it contains no spoilers for the movie itself, as I've only seen the trailer (and a few leaks) as of writing this. Everything within this story is straight out of my weird brain. That being said, if my headcanons come out a bit too close to reality, you may want to steer clear of this one. Now, on with the story!**

* * *

It's been two years since the end of Era 2.

Two years, since my world fell to pieces.

Back in era 1, I served Pink Diamond. I was one of the first of my kind, made for her.

I was never designed for combat. Us Spinels were created to be entertaining, to provide a less formal form of entertainment for high-class gems. Specifically, for our Diamond.

She giggled, watching as we performed. We were designed to shapeshift easily, contorting our forms into amusings shapes, all to please our Diamond.

I loved it, at first. Seeing her laugh, and her pearl in the background struggling not to giggle. Me and my four sisters would improvise every time, making something new, and we loved it.

Then, there was war.

None of us saw it coming. One day we were performing, the next, we waited in fear while the Crystal Gems assaulted the castle. Our Diamond was out on the battlefield, leading the defense- or so I thought.

It wasn't long before our diamond realised that her forces were no match for the Crystal Gems. Rubies, Jaspers, Amethysts- none of them even stood a chance.

Before long, we were on the battlefield.

Of my four sisters, two joined the enemy, where they wouldn't have to fight. The other two were shattered in the war.

Of the five of us, only I survived.

Only I remembered our Diamond's smiling face, even after she'd been shattered.

Or so we all thought.

5000 years later, an era came to an end, and the truth became known to all of Homeworld.

Do you know, how it felt to find out that my diamond betrayed her own people? That the one I was created to serve, was also the Empire's worst enemy?

Do you know how I felt when I saw the rest of the world following her son?

I couldn't stand for it.

Two years later, here I am, in orbit over her planet, Earth. Two years of meticulous planning, of collecting injector parts from factories that were being shut down, of preparing to do anything I can to fix this broken universe.

After all, she's still gone, isn't she?

Not shattered, but still gone.

Two years ago, a defective gem would've been immediately replaced.

I close the hatch on the control deck and begin the landing sequence. I aim right for the heart of this new, "free" Earth. A small, seaside settlement, marked by the Gem architecture blending seamlessly with the landscape. Home to Crystal Gems, Off-Colors, and Steven Universe.

In 48 hours, they'll all be gone, and a new Diamond will rise in their place.

Homeworld has changed in the past 2 years. But two years is nothing compared to the thousands I spent locked away as a trophy of my Diamond's memory, not even allowed to see the light of day. Two years is nothing to a gem.

But these two days, they'll never forget.

* * *

**A/N: Essentially, my headcanon for Spinel's backstory. Please leave a review and tell me what you think/what your theories are for this character! **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	16. Eavesdropping

Steven paused at the temple door. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but he had to know what was going on. What secrets were the gems keeping from him this time?

He entered Rose's room, and quietly slid down into the burning room, where Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were seated near the temple door. He watched from a perch in the tubes running along the ceiling, and listened.

"So, you can't talk about 'something', and it has to do with Rose, right?" Amethyst said. Pearl nodded, her hands clasped in her lap, leg bouncing nervously. Garnet sat behind her, just a little bit too tense.

"What can you tell us?" Garnet asked.

"I can tell you… that it has to do with…" she paused, trying to find the right words. "Every crystal gem… comes to earth for a reason. Rose felt responsible for the earth's safety, because-"

Her hands snapped up to cover her mouth. She slumped forward, defeated, and slowly her hands relaxed. Garnet and Amethyst glanced at each other.

"I'm sorry," Pearl said, looking at her hands as if they weren't hers.

"Let's try something else," Garnet said. "Why can't you talk about it?"

"Rose asked me not to," Pearl said, then did a double take. "I'm surprised I can say that."

"Well, that's something," Amethyst said. "Anything else?"

"She-" Pearl's hands covered her mouth again. She waited a few seconds, and they receded. "Rose _ordered _me not to tell anyone."

"Oh," Garnet said quietly. It was rare enough that Steven saw Garnet surprised, that even he did a double take. He didn't lose his grip on the pillar, but he came pretty close.

"You honestly thought I was just some random pearl she picked up, didn't you," Pearl laughed quietly. "I was made for her, and I served her for thousands of years before the war began."

"Weren't rose quartzes made on Earth?" Amethyst asked. "Just saying."

Pearl suddenly sat up, startled. "I mean, a few hundred years, that's absolutely what I mean, please disregard the prior statement-"

She hurriedly covered her mouth, though muffled words kept making their way through. Eventually, it stopped.

"I hadn't thought of that," Pearl said. "I guess if I don't know it's a clue, the seal doesn't either."

"So it is a clue," Garnet mused.

Steven couldn't bring himself to be surprised. So his mother wasn't who she seemed to be. He'd been deceived by her image so many times already. So what if she lied about something else?

"I wish I could just tell you," Pearl said quietly. "I wish I could've told you back during the war. Maybe then we could have saved them." She looks up into the bubbles, each one a friend or enemy from years past.

And sees Steven.

"Steven! How long have you been there?" Pearl exclaims, jumping to her feet.

"A while," Steven admits, and floats down to the ground. "Mom had a lot of secrets, didn't she."

"More than you will ever know," Pearl sighs. "You shouldn't be in the temple. Go back to bed."

"No," Steven says. "I want to help."

"I know," Pearl says gently. "But there's nothing you can do."

* * *

Weeks later, Steven finally learns the truth.

He understands his mother's actions. He doesn't support them, but he understands them. Sometimes he wonders what would have happened, if things had happened differently. If Garnet, or anyone else, had found out during the war. If the corruption had never happened.

But he'll have to keep wondering, because the world is what it is, and he wouldn't trade what he has now for anything in the universe.

* * *

**A/N: Yet another "I went on a random word generator and this is what popped into my head" oneshot. Hope you like it, please leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	17. Eavesdropping (Part 2)

**Alternate Title: Garnet Knows**

* * *

It was 600 years into the Gem war, and the Crystal Gems had won yet another battle. Everyone in the camp was celebrating- laughing, dancing, cracking jokes and generally having a good time.

Garnet was the only one who wondered why Rose and Pearl had disappeared shortly after the end of the fighting.

Garnet had known Rose the longest, aside from Pearl. She knew that Rose had secrets, but then again, so did many of the Crystal Gems. No one wanted to talk about why they were there, or where they came from, and Garnet respected that. Sometimes the past was simply too painful to talk about.

But Rose was worse than most, and only Garnet saw it. Everyone else, except maybe Bismuth, couldn't see past her strong leadership and overflowing empathy. But Garnet noticed when she disappeared, when she would come back with information that should've been impossible to acquire.

Garnet tried to rationalise it, at first, like the others did. Rose undertook these dangerous covert missions to keep the rest of them safe, she could send Pearl in without anyone noticing, or sometimes she just needed time away from the group. But over time, Garnet couldn't keep lying to herself.

Garnet quietly left the camp and followed Pearl and Rose into the forest. Several miles away, Pearl and Rose stopped in a clearing.

"We did it!" Rose exclaimed, pulling Pearl into a hug.

"We did it," Pearl laughed. "They never saw us coming!"

"Well it's certainly easier when you know all their secrets," Rose said. "This will be easy! This war can't last more than a few hundred years after this; if all goes to plan, we won't even need plan B!"

"I still don't think we should even consider plan B," Pearl said. "It's far too risky."

"Like I said, we probably won't need it," Rose said. "But at some point, we may need to cut our losses, and it's guaranteed to end the war."

"But at what cost, rose?" Pearl whispered. "At what cost?"

Rose shook her head. "Everything will be fine, Pearl. Now let's head back. I'm sure everyone's wondering where their precious Pink Diamond was during this important battle."

Garnet couldn't move. She watched, stone-still, as Rose and Pearl exited the other side of the clearing, off towards the Homeworld encampment.

Garnet walked back towards the camp in a state of shock. She stopped at the edge and sat down on a rock, watching the Crystal Gems laugh and run about, still riding the post-battle adrenaline surge.

"Hey Garnet?"

She looked up to see Bismuth looking at her, holding a large pink sword in its sheath.

"Where's Rose? I finally finished her sword, but I can't find her."

"She-" Garnet paused, only for a moment, to deliberate. "I don't know, she and Pearl ran off. You know how Rose gets after we lose someone," she added, referencing the unfortunate shattering of a Citrine who'd recently joined the ranks. No one had really gotten to know her well enough to be sad; after all, it was a war, and there were bound to be losses. Still, Rose felt each loss as deeply as if it were her closest friend's death.

"Ah," Bismuth said. "Well, if you see her, tell her to stop by the forge and pick up her sword."  
"Alright," Garnet said. Bismuth walked away.

Garnet didn't tell her. She wouldn't tell anyone. She knew, already, all the tragedy that would follow in the wake of this gigantic secret. The shattering, the corruption, and the thousands of years of fighting their former comrades. Even Bismuth, supposedly lost, then found again thousands of years later…

That was bad, for sure, but the alternative was so much worse.

Garnet saw herself telling Bismuth, who'd tell Biggs, who'd tell the entire group. The Crystal Gems would fall apart, tearing themselves apart from the inside, and Rose wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it.

Garnet saw herself confronting Rose, and warning her against the shattering, only for the Diamonds to be driven to corruption anyway; and Rose and Pearl would be the only Crystal Gems left.

Garnet saw Rose confronting the Diamonds, and being locked away in Homeworld for millenia, while Earth was fully colonized by Yellow Diamond.

No matter how bad it could be, this was the only way.

Because after all, this future, where no one knew, had one good thing that outweighed all the bad. One strangely inevitable event, thousands of years in the future, that Garnet knew could save them all.

The birth of Steven.

He'd be able to do what his mother couldn't. As a human, he had a strange superpower that no gem could ever possess- the power to change. More importantly, someday he'd save them all, by changing the Diamond's minds.

So Garnet looked up at the sun, and let herself forget.

No Sapphire could ever live if she had to remember every vision she'd ever had. This power was a blessing for Garnet, for all the things she'd seen in the war that she really, really didn't want to remember.

Garnet knew that the memory would be lost forever. That was alright with her, even if it meant a whole lot of drama down the line.

In the end, they'd get their happily ever after.

* * *

**A/N: aaand here's a part 2 'cause I'm feeling inspired! I've always been intrigued by the idea of alternate timelines, and just how wrong (or right) they can go. I may or may not have a few ideas for that concept, but that's a story for a later date. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	18. The Dragon

Once upon a time, there was a dragon.

They did not know their name. They had no memory of the life they once lived, nothing to remind them of their past self. They knew only the barren land surrounding this once-volcano, ash and rock and obsidian shards as far as the eye could see.

They knew that they must fight, that they were born to fight with fire, but they felt no inclination to do so. After all, who would they fight? Their enemies were dead.

Enemies. Who were those enemies? Those faceless figures at the edge of their mind. Wrong, twisted, powerful, and merciless. That was what they remembered of those enemies.

They remembered confusion. They remembered the chaos of war. They could not remember who they were fighting for.

* * *

On the slope of the ancient volcanic mountain, the dragon slept, curled up as close to the warmth of the receding lava as they could get.

For many years, they laid there, waking only briefly to shake the dust off their scales. What finally woke them was not a sound, for they had slept through many thunderstorms; nor was it a sight, for they had not bothered to look at the world for hundreds of years.

What woke them was a smell. Something they had not sensed for a long time.

Smoke.

Fire.

They rose from their spot at the center of the caldera, shaking the dust off their wings, and walked to the edge of the volcanic crater. There on the horizon, amidst the forest that had grown over the volcanic plane, was a thin column of smoke.

Curious, the dragon ventured onward. When they reached the edge of the trees, and could not force their way through, they took to the sky and looked down from above.

At the base of that pillar of smoke, a clearing had been carved out of the forest, the fallen trees stacked atop one another into strange boxes. Brown, bipedal creatures gathered around the fire, fueling it to rise to greater and greater heights. Some approached the flame with sharpened sticks, on which small, furry creatures had been impaled. They held the creatures near the flame, and watched as the fat boiled away and the fur burned, until cooked muscle was all that remained on the fragile skeleton.

The dragon watched, silently gliding, until one misguided stroke of its wings sent a plume of smoke back down to the clearing. The creatures coughed, waving the smoke out of their eyes. When the smoke cleared, and they thought to look up, all of them panicked and ran inside the boxes; save for one. A small creature, looking up at the dragon without fear or malice. The dragon circled downward, curious as to why the creature did not fear them. After all, they had felled many enemies in battle; this they knew, even if they could not remember it. So they must be quite frightful indeed.

The dragon landed in the clearing, the smoke rising between them and the creature. They stood tall, leaning over to look at the small being. The creature did not move, so they extended their neck to look closer. The creature was young, surely, for it was missing its two front teeth. It had short hair, roughly hewn, that hung to its chin. It appeared to be wearing some kind of woven material, in such a way that it covered its torso and thighs.

"Who are you?" the creature asked.

The dragon reared back, startled. The creature had spoken to them… and they had understood. They felt that this should not be possible; and yet, it was.

The dragon sank back down slowly, and tried to answer, but all that came out of their mouth was growls and hisses that even they could not understand. They shook their head and began writing in the dirt.

They wrote a question, in a language they should not be able to remember. But as they watched the creature look at the markings, they knew they could not understand what was written.

So, the dragon waited for the creature to find a solution.

And they did.

"Fly to the mountain," they said. "I will find you there. Do you understand?"

The dragon nodded, imitating the creature, then took flight.

A day later, the creature arrived at the lip of the caldera. The dragon watched, curious, as they began writing on a black stone, using white chalk.

"This is my name," they said. "Alina. It means 'sun ray', or 'ray of sunshine'."

The dragon did not understand the symbols before them, but they found they were quite eager to learn.

Alina had to leave quite soon, to return to the clearing, but they returned quite often. The dragon learned from them, or rather re-learned, as they felt they must have known some of this before; but they shouldn't know there was a before at all, should they?

The language, in particular, confused them. They knew it, of course they did, but they had to hear the words again to remember. Yet no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't produce a single sound that was understandable.

They remembered things, bit by bit. Alina taught them so much- about the creatures called "humans", about their strange concepts like "countries" and "gender". Alina explained that they were actually a "she"- that humans had different pronouns for things. This perplexed the dragon, as they felt there was no need for such things, at least in their world. But they weren't in the world they faintly remembered, and so they decided they ought to be a "she", too.

* * *

One night, a few years after the learning had began, it was raining. Pouring was a better word, she thought, as though the ocean were moving itself to the mountain. Thunder sounded in the distance, though she never could catch sight of the lightning.

Suddenly, in the distance, she heard a shout. A voice she could recognise in any storm. Alina.

The sound of an ally in distress.

The dragon could not fly, not in that rain, so she ran as quickly as she could to meet Alina on the mountainside. Water rushed across the ground, and mud splattered on her belly with each step as she ran.

She reached Alina in the center of the plane, and stretched her wings wide, shielding her from the torrent.

"Oh, thank the stars," Alina said. "Dragon, I need your help. My home is flooding, and everyone else is gone, gone with the flood. I barely escaped, there's no way out, help me," she cried.

The dragon wished she had words, to ask how.

She blew a plume of flame into the air, turning a small section of water to steam.

How foolish of her, to think she couldn't fly. She was a dragon, after all. And dragons can always fly.

She bent down in front of Alina, whose tears were washed away by the resuming torrent of rain. She looked at her, and beckoned as best as she could with her wing. Understanding, Alina carefully climbed onto her back- well, her neck would be a better description. Alina wrapped her arms tightly around her slippery, scaly body, and the dragon stood up to her full height, looking up into the storm.

With a mighty roar, she sent a plume of flame through the rain, vaporizing a thin trail upwards. It wouldn't last long, but she didn't need long. She launched herself into the air, far enough that even when the rain fell on her wings, she could keep herself airborne.

With great effort, and a long time fighting the storm, the dragon made it to the edge of the cloud. Out in the open, farther from her mountain than she'd ever been, she watched as the storm raged on, lightning flashes nearly invisible from this distance.

On her back, Alina wept.

* * *

The dragon landed on a sandy shore, at the edge of a great sea. Never had she seen such a large body of water before, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Neither had Alina, judging by the look of amazement on her face that stopped the tears.

"Thank you, dragon," Alina said after an impossibly long time. "I may have lost my people, but at least I lived, and we're safe. We wouldn't be, if not for you."

The dragon would have smiled, if she could. Instead she opted for lying down on the sand and rubbing her cheek gently against Alina's side. Alina laughed and sat down beside her, running a hand over her scales between her eyes.

"You know, I wish you could talk," Alina said, gazing out over the sea. "You can write, and that works well enough, but there's so much I want to ask you that you just can't tell me."

The dragon considers writing in the sand, but a quiet attempt proves fruitless.

"I wish I knew your name," Alina said. "I wish I knew your story. I wish I knew if you had a family, or friends. I'd ask what this gem is, here on your head," her fingers brushed lightly against it, the gemstone just above her eyes. The dragon had never thought of it as more than a slightly bigger, more vulnerable scale. But Alina did know how to make her wonder.

Though she could not say it, the dragon wanted to ask questions, too. But she knew she couldn't, limited as she was, and that was alright with her.

She glanced out at the sea for a moment, the sun just starting to set over the western horizon. A few miles down, just barely within her sight, a river wound down from the mountain, no doubt being fed by the raging storm just a few miles behind them. Something about the river caught her eye, and before Alina could say anything she stood and leapt into the air, gliding down to the river's edge.

In the water, small stones glinted at her. For a moment, she thought they must be gold, that rare metal that was so coveted by humans. But no, though they appeared like gold, these weren't quite the same. The structure was off, and when she gently touched one, they were hard.

The word came to her. Pyrite. Fool's gold.

That was it. That was what she needed to remember.

That was my name.

Memories came flooding back then, memories that I shouldn't still have, and yet here they were. Memories of war, of fighting, of Homeworld and the Crystal Gems. Then before that, a boring life, monotonous yet satisfying. My sisters, other pyrites, smiling and laughing with me when our Agate wasn't looking. Before even that, a kindergarten, my emergence on a red world, and finding my flame.

For all that I had tried, I was not a dragon.

Flame was what I was made for. To take that energy, and to control it. To light sparks that could level forests, to cut through enemies like butter with heated weapons.

I was the first one to realise that with that power, I could never run. I could never hide. A single misstep, and a forest would burn in my wake.

But here, on earth, I'd been given the power to fly.

* * *

I opened my eyes to a different world. I could see, truly see, for the first time in hundreds of years. I was half-submerged in the shallow river, kneeling in the mud. I stood up, and had to take a moment to balance myself. Being bipedal again wasn't an easy thing to get used to.

I took a deep breath, and relished in the oxygen-laden atmosphere that allowed me to do what I did best.

In my hand, a small flame appeared. That was all I needed.

I let the flame die, and walked down to the water's edge. I was back, but I was not the same, that I knew. I couldn't be the same Pyrite I was before the war, before the transformation. Not after seeing what this planet could offer.

I smiled. The corruption may have taken my memories, temporarily, but it gave me so much more.

Even after it all, I still had my wings.

I flew back to the beach where Alina sat, watching the sunset over the horizon. Unable to resist, I landed softly behind her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Alina jumped, startled, and looked up at me. I smiled, and knelt down on the sand beside her.

"...dragon?" Alina asked, reaching out hesitantly.

I nodded. "It's me," I said. I paused; hearing my own voice after so long was almost jarring, after having heard it only in my mind for so long. It sounded so different out loud.

"Okay, okay, before I even ask anything, there's one thing I really want to know," Alina said. "What's your name?"

"I used to be Pyrite," I said. "But you know, I think I'd rather be Dragon."

* * *

**A/N: I'm thinking about putting this story (or rather, an expansion of it) in the same world as Remember, along with some more stories that I haven't written/posted yet. I wouldn't expect anything more for that too soon though, especially with school and everything. But if you want to see it, please tell me! **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming! **


	19. Moving On (Part 2)

I never thought Rose was perfect. I knew her as an imperfect leader, a gem just like everyone else. A powerful gem, sure, but she had her flaws just like all of us.

I never realised quite how deep those cracks went, though.

I knew she kept secrets. So did almost everyone else. No one wants to talk about a dead past. Of course Rose would have one, too.

But her secrets nearly killed us all.

I thought the Diamonds were the problem. Thousands of years later, I guess I was right. I just didn't quite get the right solution.

I wanted to shatter Pink Diamond. I knew Rose would be against it- but I thought that if I talked to her, she'd come around. What a fool I was back then.

In hindsight, I really should have known.

I guess she ended up taking my advice.

In the end, my stupidity saved me from a worse fate.

In the end, it all worked out, thanks to Steven.

No thanks to Pink.

She did good things, she really did, but she messed up too. She started a war, she caused the deaths of thousands of gems- but she liberated us. She was the one who brought the Crystal Gems to life.

I used to look up to her. I'm grateful to her, for all the good she did, but I can't see her in the same light ever since I met her son.

After all this time, I finally moved on.

* * *

I never really knew Rose Quartz. She was sort of this nebulous entity, an idea more than a person. After all this, I'm almost glad I never met her. She tried, but she really messed up. Poor Steven. He had to clean up all her messes.

I used to hate her. I didn't know her, but I blamed her and the Crystal Gems for everything that happened to me during and after the war. For 5000 years I cursed her name, stuck in a mirror looking up at the same sky with nothing to do but think. I built her up into this monster of a person, a ruthless gem who wanted nothing more than to kill me and destroy my home.

But now I know she was kind. I know she just wanted to protect her home. I know she wanted freedom. And now that I finally have that freedom, and a new home, and friends I can trust… I understand why she did it. I can't forgive her for it, but I understand it.

I guess I really have moved on.

* * *

Rose quartz? You mean Pink Diamond? I guess either name works, right? I didn't really care about her. I was more concerned with surviving on this planet, and after that I'd met Steven. I guess I kinda hated her at first, everyone did. But it wasn't really talked about on Homeworld. So yeah, if I ever had anything against her, I've moved on and all that. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of a Camp Pining Hearts marathon.

* * *

**A/N: If you think about it, Peridot is basically the only gem without any real beef with Pink. I think I might keep doing more of these little stories, it helps a lot with understanding the characters. Also it's an easy thing to do to have something to upload, I'm not gonna lie.**

**In other news, I've decided to attempt daily updates thanks to all the inspiration I've gotten from the movie! There's no guarantee that I'll keep up with it, and if I need to slow down again I'll let you guys know, but for now please enjoy a continuous supply of fanfiction to binge!**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	20. Quantify

How do you quantify a life?

In smiles? In thanks? In gratitude?

But how can you measure? How can you decide what's worth more?

* * *

Most people measure Steven in lives saved. He's saved the lives of just about everyone on the planet more than once, plus every off color still living on Homeworld by the end of it all.

He doesn't think of it like that at all.

Steven doesn't measure. He doesn't try to count. He knows that he's saved lives, and of course he's proud of it, but those numbers aren't what matter to him the most.

Steven measures his success in days. Every day he gets to keep living, to keep seeing his friends and family smile, to keep on going even when it seems impossible. He's nearly died far too many times not to treasure every moment of his life.

* * *

Garnet measures by lives lived.

Garnet has lived so many more lives than one. She's died so many times, in increasingly improbable ways, she couldn't possibly count them all. Every time she dives into the uncertain river of time, she lives another life, another story, through to its end.

Despite all of that, despite seeing so many wonderful futures, she can't regret ending up where she is now. Even if, in some worlds, life is perfect, she wouldn't trade her true life for the world.

* * *

Pearl measures by seconds. First, counting the seconds until the end of the war, until she could finally be free from Homeworld. Then counting the seconds afterwards, counting down until Rose finally left them for good.

Counting the seconds as Steven grew, until the day she finally cast off the shackles Rose left behind. Until the day she could finally speak her mind.

On the day she stopped counting, she was free.

* * *

Amethyst measures by experiences. Every time something changes, every time she grows, she remembers. First emerging, leaving the kindergarten, the first time she ate, the first time she saw a cat- the list goes on and on. But after it all, she could narrow it down to the few things that truly made her who she was.

The first time she stepped out of the kindergarten, and saw the life on Earth.

The first time she heard music, Pearl singing softly in the night, when she thought no one could hear.

The day when Garnet finally told her about the war.

The day Rose met Greg, and Garnet quietly told her that nothing would be the same again.

The day Rose died, and Steven was born.

Steven's seventh birthday, when she stopped seeing him as a baby, and started seeing him as a friend.

The day Jasper absolutely destroyed her.

When she and Steven first fused.

When they finally beat the Diamonds.

Amethyst measures her life in experiences. There are a thousand little ones in between, but she knows which ones make her who she is. And she wouldn't change them if she could.

* * *

The truth is, you can't quantify a life. You can't measure a relationship, or an experience, or even a single word. Connie knows this best of all. As someone who spent most of her childhood living in books, of course she tried to rationalise the world around her, to fit into her story.

She knew when she'd stumbled into someone else's story. She knew she was the sidekick. But she stayed anyway. After all, if she was destined to be a sidekick, then she'd be the best one she could be.

It took about a month before she realised that there was no story, and the world was what she made of it.

So she trained, and she fought, and she stopped trying to measure her world in stories.

After all, every story has an end. But she never wanted to finish hers.

Nothing is ever wrapped up in a neat little bow. There's always more, always something else to do. You can't even call death the end, because there are always more characters, always other people to carry on the story.

Every story has an end. So if your tale never ends, then it's more than a story, isn't it?

After all, you can't quantify a life. Not even a life in a story.

* * *

**A/N: well, here you go, another oneshot where I blabber on about some random concept that popped into my head. Thanks so much, random word generator! I really appreciate it. Really though, if you get stuck when you're writing, just sit down and write something completely random and ridiculous to get back in a writing mood. Once you get your creativity flowing, things tend to get a lot easier. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	21. Watching the World Burn

I never could do anything to stop it.

I saw it. I saw it all, but it was too late. By the time I tried to warn them, it had already happened.

So I sat, and watched the world burn.

The Sun Incinerator had been destroyed. The temple, ruined. The city, full of faults. The humans had run, but we had stayed.

I tried so hard to help. I tried to warn them, when Spinel came, that we couldn't beat her. That we should run while we still could. But it was too late.

Lars led us into battle, the Crystal Gems by our side.

Rhodonite was terrified. She wouldn't show it, but I knew.

Fluorite wasn't scared. She'd seen too much to be fazed by anything now.

The twins were nervous. Nervous, but excited. They didn't see the reality of the threat.

Me?

Of course I was afraid.

I'd already seen them die.

Garnet should have known. She had real future vision, she should have seen it coming.

If only they'd listened.

Connie was the first to fall. Spinel's machine drained her of her life force, to the point where Steven asked Lapis to get her out of there.

Fluorite fell second. Spinel's destabilizer could destroy even the mightiest of fusions.

Then it was Rhodonite,

Then Steven,

Then Pearl,

Then the Twins,

Then Garnet,

Then Lars,

Then Peridot,

Then Amethyst,

Then Bismuth.

But she let me live.

So I stay here, surrounded by their shards, watching the world burn.

* * *

**A/N: I've had this one sitting in my archives for awhile, (obviously since well before the movie came out) and yes I know it's short but I forgot what a gem it is. But damn Padparadscha would have to see everything in her life and have to deal with the fact that she can't ever do anything about it. And yes, I can spell Padparadscha. Behold my glory.**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	22. Moving On (Part 3)

I knew Pink wasn't ready for a colony. Still, I never expected that things would turn out the way they did.

She wasn't shattered in the war, I know that now. But the fact remains that she's still gone.

In hindsight, I was wrong. She was ready, just not in the way we thought. She was always so stubborn, always had to get her way, and Blue and I always gave in.

She grew up thinking she could do anything she wanted.

In a sense, she wasn't wrong. She won the war, after all; albeit with significant losses.

I don't think she really believed that, though. She knew that she wasn't perfect, and that's what made her strong. She knew she'd made mistakes, and she did her best to fix them.

Without all of Pink's mistakes, we wouldn't have Steven. And as much as I loved Pink, I adore Steven more than I miss her, now.

Six thousand years after I thought I lost you, I've finally moved on.

* * *

I cried every day after you left, Pink.

My poor Pearl. Knowing what I do now, I can't believe I put her through all that. I shouldn't have made her deal with my breakdowns.

Yellow was right. I can't stay in the past. But that doesn't mean I have to forget. After all, your memory lives on to this day, in the form of your son.

Such a wonderful child. He showed us the beauty in this universe, and all the things you wished to protect. I understand now, why you loved this planet so much, if a being like Steven could come from it.

I love you, Pink. I hope you know that. You were like a child to me and Yellow, and we loved you dearly even at your worst.

I'm sorry that I ever made you cry. If you were here, I'd say sorry so many times that you'd probably have to tell me to stop.

But if you were here, the universe would be a very different place, wouldn't it?

I miss you, Pink. But I've stopped mourning you.

Dear pink, at last I'm moving on.

* * *

Starlight…

What to say to you?

I wish I believed you could hear me, wherever you are. Steven said that some humans believe in a life beyond death- an afterlife, as he called it. Sometimes, you catch glimpses of the beyond, and some humans can even speak with deceased loved ones.

I don't believe in that. When a gem is shattered, they're gone for good.

But… it's nice, pretending to talk to you. Pretending you can hear me out there.

The day they told me you were shattered, I couldn't believe it. I was in denial for almost 6000 years. I spoke to no one, sending my pearl in my stead. I didn't move. Didn't think. Didn't do anything, until your son arrived on Homeworld, and I thought my prayers were answered, and you were alive.

You'd be so mad at me if you knew what I did. All I can say to that is, I'm sorry.

Starlight, you were everything to me, my grandchild. When you died, it was like a piece of me went missing. When I finally came to my senses, I searched for anything, anyone to fill that void. Poor Steven. He had to take the brunt of my overflow after everything.

I miss you, Starlight, but I think it's about time I moved on.

* * *

**A/N: aaaand another one! I'm planning to do one more of these, and after that I'll probably be done (unless something really big happens and I'm suddenly inspired). **

**Yes I ship Bellow diamond. I'm also a multishipper so in my fanfics all ships are possible (except really awful ships i.e. Jaspis).**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	23. Era Zero

Sapphire opens her eye to a bright, lively planet. Standing in her hole in a natural cliff face, she looks out over a small city, sparkling in the morning light.

Then, in the distance, a giant tentatively stepping over the small dwellings. Shining brilliantly, and smiling in Sapphire's direction.

"Welcome to the world, Sapphire!" the giant says, holding out her hand. Sapphire takes a step forward so she can lift her- but her foot finds nothing but air.

Sapphire tumbles to the ground, just barely hovering before she hits. But wait, she's nowhere near the bottom- or she's already crashed and shattered. Which one?

Sapphire closes her eye, and waits until her feet touch the ground. She tries to see again, but finds only a jumbled mess of confusing images and contrasting futures.

Panic wells up inside her. What's real? Is she shattered already? How is she supposed to live here on Homeworld if she can't see what's in front of her?

Closing her fist around the gem in her right palm, Sapphire closes her eye and runs. At least now she knows what she's seeing isn't real, that whatever horrors she can dream up aren't in front of her.

That doesn't really help when it comes to navigating, though.

* * *

Sapphire suddenly slams into something. Something that gets knocked over and exclaims "hey, watch where you're going!"

Eye squeezed shut, Sapphire stops in place, trying to make sense of the situation without getting lost in the future. If she keeps her eye shut, and tightens her grip around her gem, she can keep herself in the present… she thinks.

"Are you okay?" the mystery gem asks. "Hello? Homeworld to… blue gem?"

Sapphire tries to speak, but all that comes out of her mouth is a jumbled mess of past and future sentences trying to be spoken all at once.

"Not okay. Got it. Alright, you're coming with me. Um, can you follow?"

Sapphire tries to speak again, but that doesn't work. Eventually she slowly shakes her head.

"Can't or won't?"

Slowly, Sapphire raises her left hand, and holds up one finger.

"Can't?"

Sapphire nods.

"Okay. I'm going to take your hand and lead you there. Is that okay?"

Another nod.

"Alright. Let's go."

A hand, much stronger and broader than Sapphire's slender one, gently wraps around her left wrist. Sapphire hovers a few inches above the ground, and allows this mysterious gem to lead her somewhere new.

* * *

They stop somewhere without sound or light. Sapphire cautiously opens her eye, and all she sees in what she thinks is the present is darkness. She shakes her hand free of the gem's grip and reaches out blindly around her, trying to get a feel for the space. There's a wall just behind her, but beyond that she knows nothing.

"Hey. You there?" The gem asks.

Sapphire takes a deep breath and nods.

"I'm guessing you just emerged," the gem says, and Sapphire hears her footsteps as she walks across the room. "Lots of gems are confused when they first pop out, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Sapphire drifts down to the floor and sits, leaning back against the wall. She closes her eye again. She doesn't need it.

"What kind of gem are you? I haven't seen a blue gem your size yet, and I've been around a few thousand years by now," the gem says.

Sapphire takes a deep breath, shoves the future aside as best she can, and says, "I am a sapphire."

"Hey, you're talking! That's good," the gem says, her smile projecting through her voice. "Well, nice to meet you, Sapphire. I'm ruby."

A loud CRASH sounds, followed by Ruby cursing and jumping back.

"Ruby?" Sapphire asks.

"I'm fine, just dropped a cup. Hang on, I'll get it cleaned up in a sec," she says.

More clatters, then a soft sweeping sound. Sapphire fidgets with her dress.

"Alright, done," Ruby says, satisfied. "Hang on, I'm almost done here."

A few clatters and clanks, then liquid pouring. Sapphire reaches up and takes the mug being offered to her, filled with some kind of hot liquid.

"Drink it," Ruby says, sitting down beside Sapphire. "It'll help ground you."

Tentatively, Sapphire takes a sip of the liquid. It's quite literally bittersweet, but in a good way, and has a flavor that reminds her of the air outside when she first emerged.

"Good, right?" Ruby says. "Feeling better?"

"Yes," Sapphire says, cupping the mug between her hands.

"Can I turn on the lights?"

Sapphire briefly catches a glimpse of a few futures, whether she'll say yes or no, and pushes them aside. "Yes."

Ruby stands and walks across the room, and a moment later Sapphire can see. She's in a small room, a door on the right wall presumably leading outside, a small table in the middle, and a kitchenette on the opposite wall. On her left, a cot is covered in piles of papers, dirty blankets, and a glass bowl half-filled with a golden liquid.

"Alright?" Ruby asks, kneeling down again with mild concern.

"Yes, I'm fine," Sapphire says, and takes another sip of tea. "Thank you."

"So, what sort of gem are you, anyway?" Ruby asks. "I know you're a Sapphire, but what can you do?"

"Oh," Sapphire says. "I see the future."

"Really?!" Ruby exclaims.

"Yes?"

"That's amazing!" Ruby grins at Sapphire with stars in her eyes. "What's going to happen next?"

"Well," Sapphire starts, then pauses as a multitude of futures come flooding into her consciousness. "I'll tell you that I'm not very good at it yet, and you probably shouldn't ask more future-related questions until I have a handle on it."

"That's fair," Ruby laughs.

Sapphire smiles, and sets down her empty mug. "What is this place?"

"Oh, it's Hessonite's room," Ruby says. "She lets me come here and cook sometimes. Most gems don't bother, since eating isn't really required, but I think it's fun."

"Who's Hessonite?"

"Oh, she's the top composer for Diamond," Ruby says. "Always coming up with new music, and she's got a whole orchestra of the best gems to play it. I sing in the chorus sometimes, but not for really big events."

"So how do you know her then?"

"Well, I was there when she first emerged. She was a lot like you, kinda confused at first, but I helped her through it. When we were talking, I accidentally rhymed something, and all of a sudden she just burst out into song. It was really funny," Ruby laughs. "I wrote the whole song down, and got her to sing it for Diamond. Few centuries later, she's the best composer Homeworld's ever known."  
"That's amazing," Sapphire says. "What about you? What do you do?"

"Well, this, basically," Ruby says. "I'm sort of an unofficial counselor. Usually I'm helping out the newer gems, other times I get called in to resolve disputes, stuff like that."

"Huh." Sapphire pauses, staring at nothing. The future still nags her, in the back of her mind, asking to be seen- but she can choose to ignore it, for the most part.

"Well, you can stay here as long as you want," Ruby says. "I need to head out, though. Hessonite's having a concert tonight, and I promised I'd see it."

"Okay. Thank you, Ruby," Sapphire smiles.

Ruby blushes, and quickly turns away. "You're welcome, Sapphire."

Ruby opens the door, and steps outside, only to be crushed by a careless giantess's heel.

"No, wait!" Sapphire suddenly cries. Ruby pauses in the doorway, and just a moment later the heel comes down inches in front of her face, before the Diamond continues onwards through the city.

"Whoa," Ruby says. "You just saved my life."

"I guess I did," Sapphire says, lifting her right hand to look at her gem, as if she's never seen it before.

"Hey," Ruby says after a pause. "D'you wanna come to the concert? With me?"

Sapphire has a feeling she's missing something important, some cultural context, but she also knows that this is an opportunity she won't want to miss.

"Yes."

* * *

**A/N: and here you go, Homeworld before Gems even made it into space, told through the perspective of a Rupphire fic. I may or may not continue this, either through the Rupphire story or just random stuff about Homeworld. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	24. Protection

Steven's most natural instinct is to protect. After all, he's built for it. Every one of his powers is defensive; practically designed to play support on the battlefield. He is the healer, the white mage, the difference between victory and death.

It pained him so much to be helpless. To be set back to a time when he couldn't protect anyone, not even himself. A time when all he knew how to do was talk his way out; and he can still do that, and sometimes it even works, but he wishes he could do more.

Steven doesn't realise, at first, that this is what it's like to be human.

* * *

Connie may be a fighter, but she is a defender first and foremost. Firstly, of herself; she's aware of how fragile she is, as a human on the battlefield with gems. Secondly, her friends and teammates, Steven especially. She knows he'd much rather put himself in danger than let anyone else get hurt. So, she figures she'll return the favor.

Connie wishes she was there when Spinel showed up. She wishes she'd been there to fight, to protect Steven and the gems. They may not have known it, but they didn't stand a chance from the start. Her, though? She could have done something. She could have fought.

* * *

When Steven first saw Connie, when she dropped her bracelet on the boardwalk, he followed her. Lost in the crowd, he didn't catch up to her until she turned onto a side street and sat down on the sidewalk, pulling her knees up to her chest. She didn't cry, but she almost did, instead taking several deep breaths.

"C'mon Connie, you can do this," she whispered to herself, unaware of Steven's presence. "Just a few more hours, and you can go home and avoid people for the rest of the summer."

She took one last deep breath, got up, and walked back towards the crowd. Steven watched her go, completely forgetting about the bracelet in the moment. Right then, all he wanted to do was protect her.

Steven saved the bracelet, just in case. Almost a year later, he finally saw her again, and the first thing he did was save her life. Pretty strange way to properly meet someone, but Steven wasn't going to complain.

* * *

For Connie, when she met Steven she saw someone special, someone with a destiny. He fit the description of every fantasy protagonist she'd ever read about, only a few years too young to be starting his journey, in her eyes.

But there was something else about Steven, something that she didn't realise until she got home that night. Even after spending several hours in the bubble with him, she didn't feel tired from socializing.

For any introvert, finding that one friend who doesn't tire you out is like winning the lottery. Connie knew, then, that this was her chance to finally make a friend, one that she'd be able to keep.

* * *

Steven saw in Connie someone he'd be able to protect, someone he _wanted _to protect. He was already tired of having the gems protect him constantly; he wanted to be there for them, and the best way to do that in his eyes was to be there for Connie.

Steven had no idea what he was in for.

He already had a pretty crazy life, even though the gems did their best to keep him out of it. But once Connie showed up, Steven suddenly found himself thrust into situations where he had to be the one in control, where he had to protect her. He'd never considered what would happen if he failed.

He came far too close too many times to count. He wondered, occasionally, how many times Garnet had seen him or Connie die, in an alternate future. Then he'd shake his head, and remind himself to stay focused on the present.

* * *

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all swore to Rose that they'd protect Steven, for as long as they could, until he was old enough to protect himself.

Pearl almost dreaded that day; the day he didn't need her anymore. When that day came, however, she realised that just because he could protect himself didn't mean that he didn't need some help once in awhile. And sometimes, she was glad for his help, too.

Amethyst was there for Steven from the very beginning. She was the first to visit him after he was born, there every step of the way as he learned to walk, talk, write, swim… you name it. He was her little brother, and she vowed to be there for him, no matter what. Sure, sometimes she might have put him in danger without realising it, but it always turned out alright. She likes to think she was the one who taught him how to laugh, how to make the best out of any situation. She was the one who snuck him along on dangerous adventures, long before Pearl and Garnet thought he was ready, because she had a feeling he'd learn best from experience.

Garnet loved Steven unconditionally, from the moment he was born. Even though seeing him reminded her of Rose, the joy she found from watching him grow far surpassed her grief. She visited him when he was a few days old, surprised to find Amethyst already there, helping Greg feed him. It was then that she knew everything would work out. Amethyst had been her biggest fear when it came to raising Steven; there was just no way to see how she'd act after Rose was gone. But she was maturing more than Garnet cared to admit, and she knew that Steven would follow in her footsteps.

The gems put Steven before themselves, no matter what. But even Garnet never quite realised just how much they would come to depend on him.

* * *

Steven's natural instinct is to protect. Over time, he has learned to accept that sometimes, he needs to be protected too.

* * *

**A/N: Here you go, an incoherent mess of a oneshot. I headcanon that Connie is, in fact, an extreme introvert, and learned to come out of her shell thanks to Steven and the gems. As an introvert, I have only known one person in my life who didn't exhaust me socially, and though I'm no longer in contact with them for various reasons, I'll never forget how much I changed thanks to that experience.**

**In other news, I need prompts! Really! I reserve the right to decide which prompts I act on- I'm the sort of writer where I don't write the story, the characters write it, and I'm just along for the ride. So give me a prompt, and if my mysterious writer-brain decides to take inspiration from it, I'll write it. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	25. The Pearl in the Mirror

The first time I looked in a mirror, I was not the one looking back.

There was a pearl in that mirror, but she was not me. She was frowning, her arms crossed, wearing a skintight black bodysuit in place of my dainty dress. Her eyes followed me, glaring, as I walked past.

I had only a moment to stare before moving on.

I told myself to forget about that pearl in the mirror. She wasn't me, and never would be. I was a proper Pearl- I smiled, curtsied, and did whatever my Emerald required of me. It didn't matter whether I was happy doing it.

* * *

A few hundred years later, my Emerald received an award, for tactical prowess that saved a fleet in battle. She could have gotten anything- a bracelet, a weapon, a Pearl; but she chose a mirror, and had me hang it in her quarters, just beside the door, where she could stand and admire herself when she had time.

I saw that pearl in the mirror again, as I was hanging it. She dropped the mirror, and for a split second I saw it fracture- but I was still holding it, hanging it perfectly straight and stepping back for Emerald to see.

As Emerald sat amidst her holo-screens, coordinating with other emeralds for whatever great battle came next, I stood to the side and glanced at the mirror. That pearl stared at me, never moving, as if waiting.

* * *

One day, without warning, my Emerald suddenly stood and rushed out the door, telling me to stay put and wait for her. Before I could even process her words, the door closed, and she was gone. I was alone, for the first time since I emerged.

Except I wasn't alone, because that pearl in the mirror was still staring at me.

"What do you want?" I asked the empty air. I walked forward slowly, until I was just in front of the mirror, looking the pearl in the eyes. "Who are you?"

She shook her head slightly, and smiled. She unfolded her arms, reached out, and placed a hand against the glass. Almost automatically, I found myself reaching up to place my hand against hers- but I only touched the mirror.

She moved back, and I followed her, putting my weight on one foot, folding my arms, narrowing my eyes and smiling unevenly. It felt all wrong, and at the same time, right.

I stopped and watched as she turned and traced around the gem on her left thigh, mirror image to mine. I let my arm fall down and touch my gem, the perfect circle that defined my being.

Suddenly, she slammed her hand against the mirror, and disappeared from sight.

I went back to standing with my back to the mirror, shaken.

* * *

Emerald returned a few cycles later, not offering any explanation for why she rushed off so suddenly. After all, why would I need one? I was only a thing, a trinket, a pearl.

As the years wore on, those grand battles that Emerald made her name fighting in became less and less frequent, as viable colonies grew ever scarcer. They were replaced by cosmic jubilees, huge conferences, and the occasional meeting with Emerald's closest colleagues and their pearls.

At one of these meetings, I found myself beside the pearl of the youngest emerald in the group. She held herself differently, I noticed- just as straight and poised, but more tense, as if ready to leap into action at any moment.

I began listening in on the meetings, rather than tuning them out as I had previously, to find an answer as to why.

I learned, after a time, that her emerald had brought her with her into battle, and trained her as a bodyguard. When my emerald questioned the usefulness of such a tactic, the emerald explained that it was mainly a last resort, but had saved her gem countless times.

From then on I was wary of the pearl who could fight. Yet at the same time, I wished to learn more about her.

The pearl in the mirror smiled at me when I returned to Emerald's quarters that day.

* * *

One day, the world erupted into chaos. A war had begun, on a new colony, led by a gem more powerful than any other soldier Homeworld had to offer. Emerald was being sent to lead Homeworld's forces, and of course, I had to stay by her side. The mirror was moved onto her ship, and we headed towards Earth.

The pearl in the mirror wouldn't meet my gaze as we traveled through the Milky Way.

For centuries, we stayed on Earth, with Emerald leading battles from afar. But one day, one fateful day, the Crystal Gems make it to our doorstep. We turned them away, but only barely.

The next day, Emerald called in the youngest emerald, and asked for her pearl to teach me to fight.

So I found myself with a blunted sword in my hand, in an unused courtyard with the pearl who can fight, both Emeralds watching over us.

She started from the beginning. Explained what she learned from watching Quartzes, and what she developed for herself. How to move your feet, how to stay balanced, how to hold your sword, on and on and on until I thought my gem couldn't take anything else, but then she kept going, and I kept listening.

A few hours in, both Emeralds left, and she finally paused and looked around.

"Finally," she sighed, and leaned on her blunted practice blade. "Did you get all that?"

"I think so," I said.

"Good. Let's start over. I'm Mint. What's your name?"

"Uh…"

"Just something I can call you so we don't have to call each other 'pearl' all the time," she explained.

"Well…" how was I supposed to pick a word to represent myself? "Um, I guess you can call me Mirror."

But that wasn't me. I wasn't that pearl in the mirror.

_Not yet._

"Alright. Show me what you've got, Mirror."

And so we trained, until the sun set and we couldn't continue, standing at the side talking quietly until our emeralds came back for us. My legs, arms, back, everything ached, and I could barely lift the practice blade. I made to hand it back to Mint, but she shook her head, and told me to keep it. It wouldn't do any good in a fight, but I could practice on my own, when I had time.

My gem was still reeling from everything I'd learned, but I hoped that soon, it would sink in. Soon, I'd be ready for a fight.

We returned the next day, and the next day, and the next. She taught, I listened and learned, followed along and pushed myself until it felt like I'd poof, and then I kept going. I held myself straighter, prouder, my shoulders drawn back and my hand hovering near my gem no matter where I went, just in case. I didn't have a true weapon to draw on yet, but some day, I would.

* * *

"My Emerald," I asked one evening as we walked back to her quarters, "May I have permission to continue training when you do not require my services?"

"Go ahead Pearl, that's an excellent idea," she said, and opened the door without much thought. "Stay here, I've got a meeting to attend."

So I was left in the empty room, with nothing but piles of paper, holo-screens, and the pearl in the mirror.

I took a deep breath and summoned the practice blade from my gem. The pearl in the mirror watched as I ran through sets, moving back and forth in the cramped space, swinging the blade as far as I dared, sometimes stopping only an inch away from hitting a wall or emerald's desk.

Suddenly I lunged at the mirror, stopping with the tip of the blade only a hair's breadth from its surface. I found the pearl in the mirror was mirroring my stance, only she held a green-tinted blade, longer and thinner than the practice blade, a double-edged sword.

I took a step back, and looked at her. She smirked, and let the weapon fall from her grasp, only for it to disappear in a flash of light.

I set the practice blade on the ground, and reached to my gem, reaching for something that shouldn't be there, and yet it was.

I drew my blade, a beautiful green rapier. It was long, heavy, and yet perfectly balanced. The guard fit perfectly around my slender hand, and under my thumb was a small carving, a simple circle. On the end of the pommel was a tiny mirror, where the pearl in the mirror smiled at me.

The door opened, and I dropped my blade, the weapon disappearing into abstract light. My emerald entered, and I swiftly curtsied before taking my place to the side as she sat down and sighed before getting to work.

* * *

The next day, neither emerald bothered to stick around for training, leaving me and Mint alone.

"I want to show you something," I said to her. She raised one eyebrow, questioning. I took a breath, reached to my gem, and drew my rapier.

"Whoa," she breathed, looking at the weapon. "That is so much cooler than mine!"

I watched, fascinated, as she drew a cutlass from the gem on her shoulder.

"Well then," she said, "shall we begin?"

Fighting with the rapier was an entirely different experience from the short, blunt practice blade. Knowing that I could poof her, or vice versa, made the sparring all the more fun. I found myself gravitating away from slashing motions, parrying for as long as I could until I saw an opening to strike with a stab.

I still lost, of course. I had a long way to go yet. But I was getting closer.

As we dueled, Mint got behind me, and before I could turn around she took a handful of my skirt and yanked, sending me tumbling to the ground. Of course she won that round.

* * *

When I returned to Emerald's quarters that night, the pearl in the mirror was nowhere to be seen. I fidgeted with my skirt, and realised just how annoying it was, getting in the way of my summoning, catching on things, and threatening to knock the papers even more askew with every step.

Without even thinking about it, I decided it would have to go.

The next thing I knew, I found myself in a black bodysuit, covering everything from my neck to my wrists to my ankles, save for a small cutout for my gem. My hair, which usually fell freely to my chin, was pulled back into a small bun, out of my way.

I turned towards the mirror, and reached towards my gem, but the pearl in the mirror shook her head. She tapped her chest, on which a small white star rested.

In that moment, I understood.

* * *

The next day, I asked Mint about the Crystal Gems. She was more than happy to tell me everything she knew, which was a lot more than a pearl like her should know.

That day, the Crystal Gems arrived on our doorstep, and we couldn't turn them away. Emerald ordered me to stay by her side, and protect her at all costs. We waited in her room, staring at the doorway. I held my hand near my gem, just in case.

The door collapsed inward, broken down by a rebel pearl, with a sword in each hand and determination in her eyes. Emerald hid behind me, whimpering.

The rebel pearl and I locked eyes. In a flash, my dress was gone, replaced with the bodysuit, complete with a star. I drew my rapier and impaled Emerald through the stomach. She didn't have time to make a sound.

"Hello. I'd like to become a Crystal Gem," I said.

"Come on, let's get out of here before they send in the cavalry," she said, beckoning towards the door; silently admitting me into their ranks without a second thought. I nodded, and quickly bubbled the emerald before following her. But then I paused, and turned towards the mirror.

The pearl in the mirror did not look back at me. She didn't smile or fold her arms. She stood, sword in her hand, mid-step, just pausing to take the scene in. The pearl in the mirror is not a dream anymore.

The pearl in the mirror is me.

* * *

**A/N: Don't ask me where this idea came from, because I really don't know. Yes, the rebel pearl at the end is our pearl, and no, the emerald is not our emerald. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	26. Moving On (Part 4)

I was created to make you happy. I was happy, playing there in the garden. I thought you were happy, too.

But you weren't. I know that now. You used to be happy, at the start, and I loved seeing that smile on your face. But as time went on, as you kept growing without me… that smile became forced, strained. You grew tired of playing the same old games.

I wish… you'd told me. Even if you'd snapped, even if you'd yelled and told me what I was doing wrong, at least then I'd have known. At least then I wouldn't have had to spend 6000 years wondering if you ever liked me.

If you'd told me, I could have learned. I could have grown. But you let me think that nothing had changed, that everything was the same it had always been. I never got a chance to grow with you.

If you'd given me that chance, I could have been a Crystal Gem.

Bit late, aren't I? Too late to see the war that started it all. But I'm here now, and I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon.

I thought I knew you, Pink. Now I know that I knew nothing. But I'm learning. After it all, I've finally moved on.

* * *

My Diamond. Pink Diamond. I used to think you were the world.

I know it wasn't your fault. I know you tried to stop White. But you didn't try hard enough.

I laughed along with you, when you played. I came to the Garden with you, every moment when you didn't have to be on Homeworld. I spent every waking moment of my life with you- until the day you made one mistake too many.

I felt it all. For all those thousands of years I sat there, trapped in a white cage, watching my body be puppeted by this ruthless shell of a diamond.

I don't blame you. I'm smart enough not to. That doesn't mean I can't still be angry with you, though.

As soon as they thought you were shattered, everything got so, so much worse.

I was a puppet because of White. I lost an eye because of you.

I missed you, when I realised you were gone. I'd been hoping, waiting for the day you'd come and set me free. On that day, I lost all hope.

When I was finally freed, thousands of years later, by your son… I gave up on trying to care about you anymore.

I used to care. But now I've moved on.

* * *

Rose, Pink… Mom. I wish I could've met you. Then maybe this would make me sad.

Everyone else misses you, but I can't. How can you miss someone you never met?

I know so much about you, and at the same time nothing at all. I've been told stories about you for my entire life. For most of it, I was expected to be like you, act like you, live up to your name. The gems always seemed to expect something from me, and I never quite knew what. But as I grew, that feeling disappeared. I realise now that it wasn't just because I was growing into my power, but because the gems saw how I grew apart from you.

It took a long time to finally accept myself for who I am. But after fourteen years of wondering and waiting, I finally stepped out of your shadow. I nearly died doing it, but by then, I was barely bothered by it. I've nearly died so many times, no thanks to you.

My name is Steven Universe. I am your son, and I am all the best parts of you. I am your kindness, your compassion, your empathy. I am not your selfishness, your greed, your lies. I've grown beyond the path you set for me, beyond what anyone ever expected of me.

I hope you're listening out there, mom. After spending so long in your shadow, I'm stepping forward, and moving on.

* * *

**A/N: Spinel and Pink Pearl are similar in so many ways, I really want to see them interact at some point. And poor Steven… he really had to deal with everything Rose left behind. I feel like bonding needs to happen at some point.**

**Also I lied, there's one more part after this! I promise that'll be the last one, really. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	27. Our Garden in Ruins

Bismuth had been standing in the Garden for 5,000 years.

Rose had just… left her there. Bismuth could understand why Rose poofed her; after all, the Breaking Point was basically the opposite of everything Rose stood for.

But why did she have to leave her here?

The warp pad was inactive- functioning as far as she could tell, but left with nowhere to go. Bismuth had reformed here with no clue how she'd gotten there. She could guess, however.

Rose poofed and bubbled her, and decided she didn't want the other Crystal Gems to find out what had happened. So she found somewhere in the galaxy to leave her, far away from the war, where she wouldn't have to stay bubbled.

What was she thinking?

Bismuth sat there, staring at the inactive warp pad, wondering if she'd ever come back.

* * *

5,000 years later, the Diamond communicator activated, revealing a message from Rose's son… Steven.

Rose was Pink Diamond all along.

Bismuth wanted to scream, to destroy everything around her. Rose, that hypocrite. She was a Diamond! She shattered countless gems! Was the war for nothing?

Now it seemed like all of Homeworld was under her thrall. How great for them. Bismuth decided something needed to change, and soon.

But all she could do was wait.

* * *

Spinel missed the garden, sometimes. She missed playing there with Pink, back when everything was simpler. Back when the Earth was just another planet waiting to be colonized.

But then she'd look at the world around her, and know that she wouldn't give up what she had for the world.

Spinel was a Crystal Gem; one of the first three, along with Rose and Pearl. She fought beside them for hundreds of years, and for awhile, everything was swell.

But then Garnet joined, and soon enough the Crystal Gems were growing at an unstoppable rate. Rose stressed time and time again that she couldn't tell anyone about her identity; and Spinel tried, she really did, but sometimes she couldn't control her mouth. She lasted for about a thousand years; but then she made one final mistake.

She slipped up one too many times, Pearl just barely being able to cover for her. With tears in her eyes, Rose poofed her, and bubbled her away.

* * *

In that bubble, Spinel had a lot of time to think.

Rose had betrayed her. Spinel had always thought of Rose as her playmate, her protector, who would never let her come to harm. She trusted Rose; but in the end, Rose didn't trust her.

The thought was enough to make her next reformation very, very different.

When Spinel was finally freed by Steven, and found out the war had been over for thousands of years- she almost lost it. She hid it, hid her pain, but as time went on she couldn't stand to look at Steven without seeing his mother in him. When was he going to betray her?

She wanted answers, for why she'd been bubbled for so long. She wanted to take him to the Garden, but there was no galaxy warp left on Earth; so she did the next best thing, and took him to Rose's fountain. She asked for answers, asked why Rose hadn't told the others that she was alive.

Despite Steven's best attempts, she fell down that downward spiral, until he was forced to poof her again.

* * *

Back in a bubble, Spinel tried to clear her mind. In those last moments, she had realised that Steven really wasn't Rose; he was just trying to clean up her messes.

When Steven let her out a few months later- barely any time at all, in her mind -she reformed in a tank top, short skirt, and a belt with a star-shaped buckle.

Spinel was there for Steven, when he fought the Diamonds one last time. She realised afterwards that she had finally grown up.

Two years later, after Steven sent his message to the universe, Spinel decided to visit the Garden one last time.

What she found there was not what she expected.

* * *

Bismuth jumped upon hearing the warp pad activate. Since when was it working?

A pink gem arrived, someone who Bismuth recognised from the war, although her form had changed drastically since then.

"Spinel?" Bismuth asked cautiously. Spinel gasped.

"Bismuth! Rose said you were lost at the battle for the Ziggurat!" Spinel ran down the steps and gave Bismuth a hug, overjoyed at seeing her old friend.

"Yeah, that's not quite what happened," Bismuth said bitterly.

"I can see that," Spinel said, backing away. "How long have you been here?"

"About five thousand years, give or take," Bismuth said. Behind her, the message started again, replaying for the fiftieth time. With a frustrated growl, Bismuth turned and punched the communicator, shattering it into pieces.

"Did you know?" Bismuth asked her.

"Know what?"

"About Rose!" Bismuth shouted. "She was never a rebel, she was just a diamond in disguise, using us for her little game!"

Spinel flinched, startled. She had already gotten so used to everyone knowing, she'd forgotten how hard it was when everyone was first finding out.

"Yes," Spinel said, "I knew. I knew Pink long before the war began."

"Oh, so you were in on her little plan, too? I'm sure you had so much fun playing this game of life with her," Bismuth laughed bitterly.

"Are you kidding me?" Spinel said. "You honestly think that Rose decided to spend thousands of years fighting to protect the earth as part of a _game_?"

"She was a diamond!" Bismuth threw her hands into the air. "That was _nothing_ for her. And look at her now, back on homeworld, acting like everything's fine."

"Rose is gone, Bismuth," Spinel said. "She died 16 years ago, when Steven was born."

"You honestly expect me to believe that?" Bismuth hissed. "It's all just part of her game!"

"IT'S NOT A GAME!" Spinel shouted, silencing Bismuth. "I should know! You want to know why? I was made for her! I was supposed to be her little playmate, to make her happy. We stayed right here," she stomped her foot, gesturing to the garden around them, "For thousands of years, and all I wanted was to make her happy. I used to think life was a game. Even after we went to Earth, and started the Crystal Gems, I could never shake the feeling that she only saw me as a plaything," Spinel laughed. "You want to know how I know it's not a game? Because I lost. Rose left me in a bubble for thousands of years, all because I came a little too close to giving away her secret."

Bismuth stood there for a moment, stunned- then shook her head. "So she fooled you too."

"Bismuth, wait!" Spinel cried a moment too late as Bismuth ran for the warp pad.

"Oh no," Spinel whispered, "what is that gem going to do now?"

* * *

**A/N: an AU in which Spinel and Bismuth switch places! I'd never really noticed before, but these two have a lot in common with their backstories; they just have such different personalities that I didn't put the pieces together. Big thanks to CocoDisney for the idea!**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	28. Remember Together

The Crystal Gems had nearly lost.

In the camp, gems sat in corners, silent; some crying, some holding back tears. A line stretched out of the healing tent, cracked gems glitching, some walking in on their own, others being carried by a worried friend.

In the largest tent, hundreds of bubbles floated freely, each containing the shards of a fallen Crystal Gem.

Garnet sat in this tent, and counted the bubbles. She had already counted three times, but she wanted to make sure she didn't miss any.

235\. That's how many they'd lost that day. There were 234 bubbles. Bismuth was missing, taken by Homeworld troops according to Rose. Garnet hoped she would shatter peacefully, and not be used for some horrid Homeworld experiment.

"Garnet?" She looked up to find Pearl standing in the doorway, nervous. "How long have you been here?"

Garnet looked at the ground. She hadn't moved since the battle ended a few hours ago.

"Waiting here isn't going to bring them back," Pearl said quietly, moving to sit beside Garnet.

"I know," Garnet said. "But I want to make sure I remember them."

"You don't have to remember alone," Pearl said. "Everyone here knew them. Everyone here will remember them."

"Will they?" Garnet said. "Or will they forget, just like after the last battle, and the one before that?"

"Maybe some of them will," Pearl said, "But there will always be someone who remembers. It doesn't just have to be you."

"I wish I could believe that," Garnet said.

"Well then," Pearl said, leaning over to give Garnet a hug, "if you can't believe that someone will remember, I'll just have to stay here and remember with you."  
Garnet deflated with a sigh. "You don't have to do that, Pearl."

"If it mean so much to you, I think I do," Pearl says.

"...thank you," Garnet said.

They stayed there in that tent, and remembered together.

* * *

**A/N: The saddest thing is, by the time the series starts, they probably have forgotten all those gems who were shattered in the war. There were just too many. I like to think that Pearl has them all written down somewhere, and in the future there'll be a memorial for them. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	29. Alive

Bismuth is dead.

Crazy lace, Snowflake, Biggs, every single Crystal Gem- all dead.

Rose Quartz, Pearl, and Garnet are alive.

* * *

"Is it over?" Pearl whispers. The blinding light has died, leaving poofed gemstones all over the battlefield.

"I think so," Garnet says after a moment. Rose gently releases both of them, and dispels her shield.

"...they got everyone," Rose whispers.

"Let's gather them up before those Homeworlders reform," Pearl says.

"Right, right," Rose says. She and Pearl start picking up as many gemstones as they can, gathering them up in their arms.

Pearl pauses and looks back at Garnet, who is standing frozen in place.

"Garnet?" Pearl says. No response. "Garnet!"

Garnet suddenly snaps back to the present.

"We need to get out of here, now," She says. "Bubble the gems you have and run!"

By now, Rose and Pearl trust her judgement, especially when her voice takes on that panicked tone. Whatever she's seen in the future, it can't be good.

Pearl, Rose, and Garnet stop running at the top of a nearby hill that overlooks the battlefield.

"Garnet, what's going on?" Rose asks. A multitude of bubbles float around her, each containing a fallen gem.

"I can't… just watch," Garnet says. One hand covers her mouth, while the other clutches her shoulder, as if she's giving herself a hug.

On the battlefield, gems start reforming- mostly quartzes and rubies -but something's wrong. Their forms are distorted, twisted, resembling animals more than gems.

"Oh my stars," Rose whispers. "What have they done?"

"Rose, what's wrong with them? Why are they like that?" Pearl asks fearfully as the beasts begin moving about, some instantly entering combat with the first gem they come across, regardless of whether it was friend or foe.

"They've been corrupted," Rose whispers. "I knew the Diamonds could do horrible things, but this-"

"We can't save them," Garnet says. "I've looked. No matter what we do, no matter what we try, we can't save them. We can defeat them, bubble them, hope for a day when a solution arises- but we can't save them. They're gone."

"We're the only Crystal Gems left," Pearl whispers.

They walk away from the battlefield on autopilot, eventually arriving at their old encampment, now eerily silent and devoid of gems. Inside what was once the healing tent, they cry.

After everything, they're the only ones left alive.

* * *

**A/N: Every single character in this show has so much trauma, they all need infinite hugs. For Garnet, Rose, and Pearl, the end of the war was like losing their family. I can't even imagine what they felt then, but I've tried to write it anyway. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming. **


	30. Moving On (Part 5)

Dear Steven,

Dear Crystal Gems,

Dear Diamonds,

Dear everyone I knew and loved,

I love you all.

I'm sorry, for everything I did. I know I made mistakes. I know I wasn't always the best leader I could be.

I know I hurt some of you. For that, I'm sorry.

Pearl. I'm sorry for telling you to stay silent. You know why I did it; in hindsight, I was stupid. I should have trusted you. You'd know when the truth was needed, and you did, but you couldn't speak up. I'm glad that you've finally found your voice.

Amethyst. You were my child first, before Steven was even a passing thought in my mind. I loved you from the moment we found you in that kindergarten. I just wanted to protect you, shelter you from the harsh realities of the war, let you grow without ever worrying about Homeworld's standards. You were the only gem I've ever met who was truly free. It was selfish of me, in hindsight, to hide so much from you. I knew you'd have to face it all one day- but a part of me hoped that day would never come, and you'd stay free and innocent forever. In the end, I wish I had told you everything I could, to prepare you for the war to come. In the end, I guess you didn't need me to protect you, after all.

Garnet. I wish I'd told you, back during the war. You could have helped, could have seen what would happen if I went through with the shattering. But I convinced myself that telling you would only make things worse. In hindsight, it's a wonder you didn't figure it out. In hindsight, I know you could have helped us avoid this fate. But in the end, I'm just glad you made it through. For all the times I lied to you, I'm sorry.

Bismuth. I'm sorry for leaving you in that bubble for so long. Even after the war, I couldn't bear to face you again, knowing that you would put the pieces together too quickly. Knowing that the others would hate me for keeping you from them. Still, in a sense, you were right to show me that breaking point. Even if I did have to poof you then, your idea planted a seed for the plan that would end the war. If it weren't for you, Bismuth, we all would have been shattered. I only wish I'd been able to thank you.

Lapis. I never knew you, but Steven does, and that means that you matter to me, too. For all the pain my actions indirectly caused you, I'm sorry.

Peridot. I wish we could have met. I could have learned a lot from you. But I'm glad you were there for Steven, instead.

Yellow. I'm sorry for all the truths I kept from you, and all the times I took my frustration out on you, knowing that you wouldn't retaliate, that it would only annoy you more. I'm sorry for how much of a brat I was when I was young; at least I admit it. But I wish you could've seen the person I became. You never did recognise me as Rose, not even when I was right in front of you. You never considered that I had the power to change.

Blue. Thank you for being patient with me for all those years. I think that if I had told you, you wouldn't have tried to stop me. You'd argue with me, reason with me, but you wouldn't stop me. You'd understand that you couldn't stop me. A part of me wishes you could've seen the earth in its full beauty, back before the war, when all of its land masses were still intact and battlefields had not yet formed. I think that if you'd taken the time to appreciate the earth, you could've been a crystal gem, too.

White. I feel like I barely knew you. You would join us sometimes, and you'd laugh and sing, but then you'd disappear again, back to that empty white palace of yours. I wish I had known you better. I wish you'd taken the time to know me better. I'm glad that Steven managed to get through to you, when I couldn't. Who would've thought that you'd blush pink?

Spinel. I wish I'd brought you with me to Earth, back then. I wish I'd talked to you. I wish I hadn't left you behind. I thought that by leaving you there, I could leave behind that part of myself, that childish person who I used to be. It never really occurred to me that maybe you needed to change, too. You could've been a great Crystal Gem, I'm certain. You've proved, by now, that you can change.

Pearl… my first pearl. What to say to you? I missed you, at first, and though I'm not proud to admit it, after a few thousand years I forgot about you. I wish I'd come back. I wish I'd stood up to white, either then or thousands of years later, when I'd learned how to stand up for myself. I wish I'd tried to save you. It ended up being Steven who saved you, in the end, didn't it? If any decision I've made was worth it, it was creating him. For everything I did and didn't do, my pearl, I'm sorry.

Steven. How I wish I could've seen your face. I wish I could've been there as you grew, been there to help you up when you fell, to witness every one of your accomplishments. I wish I could've whispered in your ear when you were frustrated, I wish I could've held you as you cried. There are so many things I wish I could do, but the fact is that I will never, ever regret creating you.

Dear gems,

Good luck on your journeys. Now is the time to let me rest, and allow yourselves to move on.

* * *

**A/N: And that's a wrap, folks! This little mini-series is officially concluded. At the time of posting this I should have already posted all of Moving On separately from If Only We Would Listen, so if you want to read them all together go check that out! **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	31. Belong

The Earth was a place for gems who didn't belong. Gems who didn't fit the mold that Homeworld tried to put them in, gems who weren't happy, or even in danger, on Homeworld.

Rose welcomed every one of them with open arms. She saw the beauty in each of them; that was always real. Pearl would be right by her side as she welcomed each new recruit, smiling and assuring them that they were not alone. Rose could intimidate without meaning to; but Pearl could show with just a few words that they had nothing to fear.

* * *

These gems all had things to bond over. Everything they'd went through at the hands of Homeworld, all the struggles they overcame to get where they were, those were common topics of discussion in the Crystal Gem encampment. But inevitably, walls began to rise. Rumours began to spread. Some gems felt unwelcomed, even here.

Some gems had quite literally climbed mountains to join the Crystal Gems. Some had gone through unspeakable tortures to reach Earth, and many had barely escaped shattering.

Some had walked in with no problem, and asked to join, simply because they wanted to protect life on Earth.

Though each gem's story was different, the urge to classify and put everyone in boxes was still strong. Thus the walls began to rise, dividing the Crystal Gems into two groups- those who climbed mountains, and those who did not.

* * *

Those who climbed mountains were undeniably the larger, stronger group. They shunned those who hadn't gone through what they had, saying they didn't understand, that they didn't deserve to be Crystal Gems, because they hadn't earned it.

Those who walked in would protest, saying they had all seen the horrors of the battlefield, that they had all sacrificed any chance of a life on Homeworld just by being here. Yet these gems could not help but feel guilty, knowing that they had had such an easy existence compared to these traumatized warriors.

Then there was a third group, who refused to be involved in the conflict at all. These were the gems who were so traumatized that they couldn't fight, that they remained a part of the Crystal Gems as a means of protection from the past they ran from. These gems would gather quietly when nearly everyone else was off fighting, and they would wonder what life would be like if they had the energy to get up and fight.

* * *

Rose was oblivious to all of this. She wasn't there enough to see what was happening. But Pearl and Garnet, well, they were there all right. And they knew.

Pearl fell into the first group, those who climbed mountains; though she had followed Rose most of the way, it had taken decades of fighting to truly believe she was a rebel. It took her centuries to break out of the mold of a simple pearl.

Garnet fell into the second group. She had quite literally fallen to Earth and became a Crystal Gem almost as soon as she was formed. She hadn't had a mountain to climb; she simply was, and in the Crystal Gems, no one questioned her existence.

Pearl and Garnet watched as the tension rose, until finally they decided that something had to change.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, they didn't have to act. The next battle changed everything.

* * *

The battle for the Ziggurat was one of the worst in Crystal Gem history. Hundreds of gems were shattered, and many more were cracked. The gems were left devastated for weeks.

In those weeks, the walls disappeared. The gems who climbed mountains found themselves helping the gems who walked in, helping them through pain that they knew all too well.

Helping them climb their own mountains.

The gems who could not fight smiled at this, and rested a little easier. They had known so much pain that they were numb to their losses; only waiting for the next day, the next battle.

In the end, the walls were never rebuilt. Those first thousand Crystal Gems grew closer and closer, forgetting about where they came from or who they used to be. Smaller groups of friends sprang up, and these relations were what kept the Crystal Gems together in the years to come.

Every gem who joined the Crystal Gems after the battle was told that no matter who they were or what they went through, they belonged.

* * *

**A/N: Well, here's another thing about the war. Literally every character in Steven Universe is so traumatized, they all need therapy. And hugs. Hug therapy. **


	32. Lost Cause

Onyx never had motivation to get up in the morning. She'd lie there, watching the sun rise, numb and half-asleep.

Inevitably, someone would come to check on her. Citrine, usually. She'd sit down next to Onyx and lift her into a sitting position, where she could see all the gems in the camp. She'd talk for hours, telling Onyx what's been going on.

Onyx would never respond. After awhile, someone would come and ask for Citrine, or she'd just leave on her own. She'd always look back over at Onyx with a sad look in her eyes before she left.

* * *

Onyx didn't move. The only movement of her form was slow blinking, occasional breathing if she felt like it, or a tiny twitch of her toe to dislodge an insect. She'd sit there, watching blankly, until the sun set again. Then she'd move just a little, just enough to let herself fall back to the ground and sleep.

One morning, no one came to get her up. She couldn't see from her angle, but she could hear gems rushing about, and panicked voices.

Slowly, very slowly, Onyx sat up. Down in the center of the courtyard, Citrine sat amidst a circle of gems, all panicking. Citrine glitched briefly, and fell to the ground before picking herself up again.

Onyx knew what it meant. She was cracked.

Where was Rose? Couldn't she fix this?

* * *

Citrine's gem was healed, but she didn't come back to see Onyx. Sometimes, Onyx would catch her looking up at her sadly, before she continued on with her day, laughing with her friends.

Every morning, Onyx would sit up and lean against a tree to watch the gems below her. Every night, she'd lie back down again.

* * *

Onyx woke in the middle of the night to the smell of smoke. Gems were dancing around a fire in the courtyard, laughing and singing, celebrating some great victory.

Onyx considered going back to sleep, but something made her sit up and watch.

Slowly at first, then faster and faster, her hand tapped against the ground in time to the beat. Then her leg started bouncing up and down, and her head started nodding in time.

Movement was strange to her. Having spent so long sitting still, just feeling those parts of her body that were usually left numb was a strange experience.

At the same time, it was empowering.

Citrine looked up at her from the crowd below, and Onyx nodded at her, and waved.

Citrine tripped and nearly cracked herself again right there. Onyx almost laughed, at the sight of it. But she couldn't laugh yet.

* * *

Kyanite came once, on behalf of Citrine, to ask Onyx how she was doing. Onyx didn't answer, but something in her manner must have seemed positive, since Kyanite left with a smile in her face.

Maybe it was enough that she'd turned her head to look, and raised an eyebrow in question.

* * *

As the sun was setting, Onyx watched gems file back into the camp for a good night's sleep, if that was the sort of thing they indulged in. Most were happy, bouncing on the balls of their feet and talking excitedly with friends. But Citrine came in dragging her feet, though her friends seemed to be trying their best to cheer her up.

Onyx was surprised when Citrine sat down beside her. She didn't say anything at first, just sat and watched the sunset until it was completely dark, save for the sliver of moonlight shining through the trees.

Onyx turned her head to look at Citrine. She was just staring off into the distance, not really looking at anything. Her dress was dirty and wrinkled, her gem dull, and her face blank.

Onyx knew that look. She felt it every single day.

She lifted an arm, and touched Citrine's hand. That snapped her awake, at least a little bit, and she looked over at Onyx.

_What happened?_ Onyx's eyes asked.

"Kyanite was shattered," Citrine whispered. "No one else seems to care. They only care that we won a battle. But I couldn't even find her pieces."

A single tear dripped down Citrine's cheek.

"How do you do it? How do you live with yourself after everything?" Citrine looked Onyx in the eyes. "I know I can't come close to everything you went through without me… but I understand. I understand pain."

Onyx closed her eyes. It had been long enough that the memories of those months had faded into nothing but scattered images and lingering fears. But the pain left behind was still there with her, every day.

"I know you do," Onyx whispered, looking up at Citrine. That look in her eyes gave her away. Loss is equally painful, no matter the magnitude. In both of their cases, it was the worst pain they'd ever felt.

"...I miss you," Citrine said, lifting a hand to brush Onyx's cheek. "I came back every day for so long, but you never even looked at me. The others convinced me you were a lost cause."

"I thought I was, too," Onyx said. "But I was wrong."

Onyx took a deep breath, gently removed Citrine's hand from her cheek, and stood. She was wobbly at first, and had to lean on a tree before she found her balance; but once she did, she drew back her shoulders, and stood tall.

Onyx extended her hand to Citrine, and she took it. She pulled Citrine to her feet, and accepted the hug that came after.

"Are we ready?" Citrine asked. "Can we bring her back?"

Onyx whispered one final word.

"Yes."

* * *

Tiger's eye opens her three eyes with a sigh and a smile. It's been three hundred years since she was last formed; three hundred years since she was a carefree fusion who'd just joined the Crystal Gems. Three hundred years since she'd been ripped apart, and broken. It took three hundred years to put herself back together.

Tomorrow, she'll walk down to the courtyard, and reunite with all the gems who thought she was gone for good. Tomorrow, she'll fight again.

But for now, she'll just sit here and watch the stars.

* * *

**A/N: Remember those super-traumatized gems I talked about in Belong…? **

**I don't actually know what happened to Onyx, only that she was separated from Citrine for a few months, in which she was severely traumatized. I couldn't write anything worse than what your minds have already come up with. **


	33. Crowd

There's something magical in being part of a crowd; In following your leader onto the battlefield of your own volition, holding your weapon that you've trained with for hours, knowing that you're part of something that's so much bigger than yourself.

Every Crystal Gem was an amazing fighter as an individual, no doubt about it, because they had trained and fought, and because they were motivated. But as a group, as this massive crowd, well… they were unstoppable.

The Crystal Gem's army moved like one mass, mirroring each other's movements and charging in sync, clashing with Homeworld's troops all at the same time. Even as the front lines fell into disarray, every Crystal Gem could look back at a teammate and, without even talking, get their help.

Homeworld's armies were in synch, yes, but they were rigid, and flawed. If one gem fell, the entire army would topple. They moved in straight lines, and they couldn't adapt, couldn't change to match their rivals.

Those who could change were cast out, as they no longer fit the mold that Homeworld made for them. Nearly all of them would go to the Crystal Gems, upon realising that Homeworld would never want them. So the cycle continued, for hundreds of years, until finally the Diamonds gave in and changed their tactics.

* * *

There's something magical in being part of a crowd. Rose knew this best of all. As a Diamond, she was never a part of the crowd, always the one on the stage, always removed from the heart of the action. As Rose Quartz, she was still a leader, but she was a fighter, too. She was less of a leader and more of an organizer, directing the crowd while simultaneously being a part of it.

On rare occasions, there would be smaller battles, skirmishes fought between a single Homeworld platoon, and a group of Crystal Gems. The Crystal Gems were almost always hopelessly outnumbered; and yet they won anyway, for good reason. If Homeworld were ever to stumble upon a small group like this, the group would almost always be a close-knit unit of friends. They would know how to fight together, and they would know how to use their numbers to their advantage. More often than not, some of them would fuse.

Really, Homeworld didn't stand a chance.

* * *

They should have won. Homeworld had strength in numbers, but the Crystal Gems were stronger, more coordinated, and far more motivated. The more battles they fought, the more gems joined; it was an endless cycle, one that Homeworld knew they had to end.

So Yellow Diamond set her Peridots to work creating the first Rejuvenator.

Just like that, the tides turned. The Crystal Gems had no time to adjust for the new weapon; it just came out of the blue, with Quartzes wielding pink scythes and snatching up poofed gems to send back to Homeworld. They had fought against destabilizers before, but usually they could just take their poofed friends back home and be ready to fight another day.

With the Rejuvenator, the fallen gems reformed in their default states; and most of them wanted to go back to Homeworld.

Rose let them leave. She felt it wasn't fair to keep them here. But a few gems stayed, gems whose friends had persuaded them not to leave just yet.

One of these gems was Angel Quartz. Her friends refused to let her go, no matter how much she just wanted to go back to Homeworld; somehow, they convinced her to stay. They told her who she was, what she had lost. They guided her through her old life, through each of her memories; and after a month of living with this shell of her former self, her memories returned.

With the knowledge that memories could be restored, the Crystal Gems continued to fight. But bringing someone back from rejuvenation was time-consuming, and it quickly became clear that they simply couldn't keep up. Homeworld was winning.

So Rose did the only thing she could to stop the war.

The Crystal Gems should have won. In the end, they did; just not in the way anyone expected.

* * *

There's something magical about being part of a crowd. The Crystal Gems embodied that; and, thousands of years later, those same gems would laugh and dance in the center of Little Homeworld, as the music of victory floated through the air.

* * *

**A/N: So I went to the Climate Change walkout on September 20th, and this is what my brain came up with afterwards. Hope you enjoyed!**


	34. Corrupted

Years after the war's true end, Steven asked the gems of Little Homeworld to describe corruption.

"It's like being asleep for a very long time, but you're sort of half-asleep, and kinda dimly aware of your surroundings," Snowflake said.

"I didn't even realise it had happened, honestly. I remember trying to reform and being kinda confused, then just nothing," Biggs said.

"I was still me, just in a different body," the Heaven and Earth beetles said.

"I kinda had a bit of control, but not much," Crazy Lace said. "Like when you first start learning to fight, and you're mostly just swinging your weapon around with no real idea what you're doing? That's what it felt like."

Then Steven talked to Jasper.

* * *

I was trapped in a cage of my own making. I felt everything, every time I got hurt, all the things wrong with my twisted form. I saw everything, all the mindless destruction I caused. I heard all the screams of the organics I slaughtered. I couldn't do a thing about it.

This feeling wasn't new to me. You know why. But at least then, I had something to fight against. The only one at fault here was me; and I knew it. I watched myself wander aimlessly as a monster, screaming at this shell of me, as if that would help.

You know, I get it now. Why the Crystal Gems wanted freedom. There's nothing worse than being stuck like that, with no control over your actions, for months on end.

When I finally woke up, I realised it was all a dream.

I'd dreamed up a terrible reality for myself, while I was bubbled. I tortured myself, and I could have stopped it, but I had no control. I had no will to break free of the illusion; I believed that I was at the world's mercy.

Sometimes I wonder why my subconscious would dream up something like that. But it's obvious, isn't it? I was wrong, I was wrong the whole time, and I did things that I regret, and I punished myself for it.

I was supposed to be THE Jasper. The ultimate quartz, earth's legendary warrior, yatta yatta yatta. I never felt like it. All I could ever think of was how much I'd failed.

I failed to win the war. I failed to save my Diamond. I failed to continue fighting. I failed to capture Rose Quartz. I failed to save myself.

I was never perfect. But I thought that I was supposed to be. I never could take a moment to rest, always pushing myself to my limit, always trying to get stronger, never satisfied with where I was. I tried, but it was never enough. The fact that I was made on Earth was enough to keep me from the front lines, to have the Diamonds send me back here to get rid of me.

So I dreamed up that terrible reality where I had well and truly failed. When I woke up in the real world, I thought for sure that I was still dreaming. Then I saw my reflection; and well, I couldn't lie to myself then.

Earth is so different from what I remember of it. It's a thriving planet, full of gems and organics, living in peaceful harmony. I never could have imagined it. But clearly the Crystal Gems could; because here we are today.

I used to think of the Earth as something to overcome. From the moment I was made I was fighting, both against the Crystal Gems, and against the restraints put on me simply by being born on this rock.

Seeing a world where that will no longer hold me back… it does put a smile on my face.

What was it like to be corrupted? In a sentence, I'd say I was weathering the storm.

* * *

**A/N: I know this is terrible, I've had very little time to write since school started, and I'm also busy with the final edits on my novel (which will hopefully get published before I graduate). So, if you want daily updates to continue, please give me some prompts! Really! Having something to start with does wonders when it comes to my ability to write quickly. I reserve the right to deny prompts if I need to. **


	35. Aftermath

The war was over.

That was the first thing Snowflake Obsidian realised when she woke up in a pool of rose's tears. The war was over. After all, there were the Diamonds, sitting in the fountain, smiling down at the gems swimming about.

She sank to the bottom of the pool, relaxing in relief. The war was over. Whatever had happened while she was gone, they'd won. She only wondered how much she'd missed.

Swimming back to the surface, she looked around for Rose, but didn't see her. Nearly everyone else was there, along with a few faces she didn't recognise. Bismuth was there- hadn't she been captured? Garnet and Pearl both had new reformations, too.

Eventually she caught sight of Rose, but she wasn't what she expected. That was her gem alright, but she was so small… she looked like an organic.

That wasn't rose. Snowflake knew this. The way they moved, their form, everything… that may be rose's gem, but it wasn't her.

Snowflake swam to the side of the fountain, got out, and went over to Pearl.

"Oh, Snowflake!" Pearl embraced her upon sight. "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, P," Snowflake said. "You mind filling me in on all this?"

Pearl sighed. "It's a long story. I think Steven's planning to explain the whole thing later."

"I get that," Snowflake said. "But um, what happened to Rose?"

"That's also complicated. But the important thing to know is… she's gone," Pearl said.

"I thought so," Snowflake murmured. "So who's that?"

"Her son, Steven."

"...explanation?"

"He's half human, half gem. The first of his kind," Pearl said. "He really saved us all in the end."

Snowflake groaned. "What the hell happened!"

"I think we're all wondering, Snowflake," a voice said from behind her. Snowflake turned around to see Bismuth smiling at her.

"Bismuth! I thought you were shattered!" Snowflake said, giving Bismuth a hug.

"Yeah, that's a long story," Bismuth laughed. "But it can wait. I'm just as eager as you to find out what the hell happened while I was gone. I still only got bits and pieces of it."

"Sorry about that," Pearl said. "I need to go find someone, but I'll leave you to it."

"Bye," Snowflake said automatically as Pearl walked away.

* * *

Pearl walked around the edge of the fountain, scanning the crowd. Eventually she located Amethyst, who was having a splash battle with Steven.

With a sigh, Pearl dove into the fountain, and surfaced just behind Amethyst.

"Amethyst," Pearl said, and was greeted with a large splash of water to the face.

"Oh, sorry P," Amethyst said, not sorry in the slightest.

"It's quite alright," Pearl managed, though she was torn between scolding Amethyst and bursting out into laughter. "Can you come with me? We need to discuss something."

"Right now?"

"Yes, right now."

Pearl dove back underwater, glancing back only briefly to make sure Amethyst was following. She surfaced again next to a purple bubble containing a certain yellow Quartz.

"Oh," Amethyst said. "Yeah, she did try to kill us a bunch."

"I know we need to heal her, but I wanted to ask you what should happen to her afterwards," Pearl said.

"Well, I mean like, she was kinda mean, but we're in a new era now, right? She gets a clean slate, too," Amethyst said. With that, she reached out, and popped the bubble.

Jasper's gem dropped into the water as she reformed, healing her of corruption. She burst through the surface of the water as if she were about to leap into battle, but paused when she saw the Diamonds sitting at the other end of the pool.

"Hey, sis," Amethyst said with a smile. "Long time no see."

"You have ten seconds to explain what on earth is going on here," Jasper said.

"Rose was Pink Diamond," Pearl blurted out.

Silence hung between them for a moment.

"...what?" Jasper said, her voice carefully controlled.

"She wanted to protect life on earth, so she took on an alternate identity and faked her shattering," Pearl said, backing away slightly.

"Where is she now?"

"She's gone," Amethyst said. "She died fourteen years ago."

"Then who was I fighting?" Jasper growled.

"Well, me, for one," Amethyst said. "Pearl and Garnet too, and Steven."

"You know what I'm asking," Jasper said.

"And I answered. Rose, Pink, whatever you want to call her, is gone. Her gem might not be shattered, but she is gone. The person you're thinking of is Steven Universe. He may have her gem and her powers, but he will never, ever be her," Amethyst said.

Pearl quietly slipped underwater and swam away.

"So it was all for nothing?" Jasper said.

"If you want to put it that way, sure," Amethyst said. "But think of it like this- after everything, at least we made it here."

Jasper let out a long sigh.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"Rose's fountain."

"Why are the Diamonds here?"

"Cause Steven convinced them all to come heal the corrupted gems."

"How?"

Amethyst chuckled. "Even I don't know that. I was poofed or mind controlled for most of it. You'll have to ask Steven."

"I guess I'll never know, then," Jasper said quietly. She looked up at the three Diamonds, happily chatting and occasionally splashing the gems swimming in the pool. Yellow Diamond briefly looked at Jasper out of the corner of her eye, and Jasper looked away.

"You okay?" Amethyst asked.

"I don't know," Jasper said. "I think I'll just… take some time to process this."

Jasper sank beneath the water and screamed where no one could hear.

* * *

Amethyst climbed out of the pool, shook the water out of her hair, and went to sit with Pearl and Garnet, who were letting all the newly healed Crystal Gems come to them.

"Hey G, hey P," Amethyst said, sitting down between them. "How ya doing?"

"Good," Garnet replied simply with a smile.

"How'd it go with Jasper?" Pearl asked cautiously.

"Fine," Amethyst shrugged. "I don't think she's gonna be a problem, if that's what you're asking. She just seemed kinda confused."

"Well that's good I suppose," Pearl said.

Gems began coming up to talk to them one by one. Each of them Garnet and Pearl knew, but Amethyst was a total stranger to. She introduced herself again, and again, and again. It got a little tiring after a while.

Until Streak showed up.

"Hey, I haven't seen your face before!"

Amethyst looked up to find another Amethyst smiling down at her. She had her gem in her cheek, and the gem had several white stripes across it.

"Always nice to see another Amethyst around her," she said. "Nice to meet you, I'm Streak."

"Hi!" Amethyst said, getting to her feet. "I'm just Amethyst."

"Hi, Just Amethyst," Streak said. "Pearl, Garnet, where'd you find her?"

"In the Kindergarten," Garnet said.

"I'm a post-war gem," Amethyst said. "Nice to know I'm not the only Amethyst around anymore."

"Hell yeah!" Streak said. "Gotta show them other quartzes who's boss, right?"

Amethyst laughed. "Oh don't worry, I already beat Jasper's ass into the dirt. Well, it was Smoky who did it, but that still counts."

"Wait, Jasper? As in the Jasper?" Streak said. "I thought she'd be sitting around on Homeworld!"

"Nah, the Diamonds sent here back here for something," Amethyst shrugged. "She really didn't get what she came for."

"I hear that, sister," Streak said. "Look at that! I'm talking to the amethyst who bested the Jasper!"

"I didn't do it on my own," Amethyst said, laughing.

"Oh yeah, you said something about a Smoky… smoky quartz?" Streak asked. "That a fusion?"

"Yeah, me and Steven," Amethyst said. "Oh, just wait 'till you meet him, you're gonna flip."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Well, for a start, he's rose's son."

"Wait what?" Streak's mind ground to a halt. "What?"

"Amethyst, I told you to wait and let Steven explain later," Pearl said.

"Sorry P," Amethyst shrugged. "I kinda wanna watch her mind break before we try to explain it, and break it even more."

"Amethyst," Garnet said.

"Oh fine, fine. Pearl, you explain," Amethyst said. "I'm not good at explaining things, and you know it."

"No," Pearl said, "We're going to let Steven explain."

"Where is Steven, anyway?" Amethyst asked.

"Right about… there," Garnet said, pointing to Steven just climbing out of the pool. "He'll start talking in about thirty seconds."

"Streak, you might want to sit down," Pearl advised. Streak nodded blankly and sat against the wall.

"Oh, wait, that wasn't quite right," Garnet said as Steven jumped into the air. "He's going to talk for a minute, then start singing."

"Oh boy," Amethyst said. "Are we gonna get dragged into it?"  
"Almost certainly."

"What did you expect?" Pearl asked.

"I dunno," Amethyst said. "I really don't know."

"Hey everybody!" Steven shouted, instantly silencing everyone in and around the fountain. "As some of you already know, I'm Steven Universe. A lot has happened in the time you've been gone, so I'm here to bring you up to speed."

He took a deep breath, tapped out four beats on the stone, and started singing.

* * *

**A/N: This could have easily been way longer, but I decided I didn't want to come up with an SU-level song on the spot. As always, reviews and/or prompts are appreciated!**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming! **


	36. Home

There are advantages, I suppose, to living forever.

Knowledge from ages past need not be recorded in paper or stone, where it can erode and be lost to time. Memory, although imperfect, is more reliable than a paper scroll; especially when you can get a firsthand account.

We do not live forever. We live short, finite lives, up to a century at most. We're only human; and no matter how much we may try, we simply can't stretch past that limit.

But there are beings who can.

These beings, these aliens, are real. They are known as Gems.

They are the reason we are alive today.

5000 years ago, there was a war. Not a war of humans, a war of Gems.

The first gems to come to this planet did not have noble intentions. They came to colonize, to take our resources and to use the Earth to expand their empire. These were the Homeworld gems.

In the early stages of colonization, a small group of gems defected from Homeworld, and stood up to defend the planet. They protected our species when we were vulnerable; and even though the effects of the war were dreadful, if it weren't for them, it could have been so much worse. These were the Crystal Gems.

The war lasted nearly 800 years. Eventually, it ended, and the Crystal Gems won- at a cost. While we were now safe, they were not, and Homeworld used a weapon to turn the majority of their army into mindless beasts.

Now, only four Crystal Gems remain.

I am asking you, as people, as humans, to support the Crystal Gems. They have protected our planet for millennia; don't you think it's time we gave back?

One of the Crystal Gems is dead. Her son is the first Human/Gem hybrid in existence; and if my suspicions are correct, he won't be the last. Change is coming, and we must be prepared for it.

Soon, there will be another war. Soon, our home may be in danger. We will not be able to fight for it; but we can offer support, and we can hope, and wait.

Soon, gems will return to this planet. Soon, we will live in a world where there are thousands of them living on Earth; and we will share our home with them, because it's the least we can do.

How do I know?

Well, for me, it has already happened.

Hi. My name is Steven Universe, and my home is in the future.

* * *

**A/N: I don't know what this is. I really don't. Please give me prompts so I can write decent stories again. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	37. Great Minds Think Alike

Sapphire was gone.

The last look Ruby had of her was her crying face, eye squeezed shut, as Onyx dragged her into the ship, along with that pearl she barely knew.

Beside her, another ruby cried.

It had all happened so fast. Onyx showed up, with her archaic weapon, and attacked Garnet and Rhodonite. She'd taken Sapphire and the pearl, and left the rubies behind.

"No no no no nononononono…" the other ruby whispered. "I can't lose her, not now, not when I was just starting to think that everything would be okay…"

Similar thoughts were going through Ruby's head, but there was one thing that she knew better than ever.

"Ruby," Ruby said, "Listen to me. We are going to get them back, I promise."

"How can you know that?" she cried. "We can't do anything, I'm useless without her, useless…"

"I used to think that, too," Ruby said. "But then I learned. Sapphire and I have gone through a lot of trying times together, but that's what taught me that I can still be my own person, and be with Sapphire, at the same time. You are not useless, you hear me? You're strong, and we are going to get them back."

The ruby wiped the tears from her eyes. "But how?"

"Well… I don't know," Ruby said. "But I know how we can find out."

* * *

"What on earth happened?" Pearl exclaimed.

"Some Onyx showed up out of the blue and took Sapphire and Pearl," Ruby said.

"What?" Steven said, rushing down from his room, with Amethyst close behind him. "Who is she? What does she want?"

"Are we seriously dealing with this again?" Amethyst said.

"Goodness, it's Spinel all over again," Pearl said.

"Look, I don't care who she is, we need to follow her and get them back!" Ruby said.

The entire room was stunned into silence.

"Right. Okay," Steven said. "I'll call Peridot, she can probably track them. If they're out of the solar system I'll call the Diamonds, and we can probably take the Sun Incinerator if they're not near a warp."

"Should I get captain Lars?" the other ruby asked.

"I'll go find him," Amethyst said, heading for the door.

"Don't worry," Pearl said as Steven headed back up to his room with his phone on his ear. "I promise, we'll get them back."

* * *

Onyx was on a moon several light years away. She was in an old moon base, orbiting an abandoned colony. Everyone who could fit into the Sun Incinerator (including the main Crystal Gems, Peridot, and the Off Colors) was present, tensely awaiting arrival.

They landed outside the moon base, the gems walking out into the vacuum while Steven and Lars went in a bubble.

The base was locked from the inside. Not just locked; barricaded, according to Peridot's analysis.

The rubies didn't care. They wouldn't wait for a clever solution or attempts to communicate.

After all, Rubies were made to be soldiers. Small, disposable ones, but soldiers nonetheless.

The two rubies couldn't break down the door on their own.

But Rubies were designed to fuse.

* * *

Ruby broke down the door with a single swing, sending the remnants of the metal barricade in all directions. She led the charge into the moon base, up to its second level, when she heard something (the sound transmitting through the floor, as there was no atmosphere).

From the top level, a fusion appeared, holding Onyx's gemstone in her hand. She was taller than the Ruby, her skin a light lavender, with long straight hair and three eyes. Iolite.

She gasped. "Ruby!"

Both fusions unfused simultaneously, each ruby reuniting with her partner.

"I guess we both had the same idea," Sapphire said, hugging Ruby as tightly as she possibly could.

"You're not mad, then?" Ruby whispered.

"Of course not," Sapphire said. "I'm just glad you're here."

* * *

Garnet smiled, and summoned her visor. She looked to her left to find Rhodonite reformed, hugging herself tightly.

Rhodonite followed behind Garnet as they headed back to the sun incinerator, Pearl carrying Onyx's gem in a bubble. The two fusions exchanged glances- and a smile.

After all, they shared a story that no one could ever hope to replicate.

* * *

**A/N: At last, something I'm actually somewhat proud of! TBH this totally could've been a way longer story but I absolutely refuse to start yet another WIP (I literally have too many to count). My writing friends came through for me and gave me some prompts, so I'm officially back in bismuth! **

**Reviews/Prompts are appreciated as always!**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming! **


	38. Pumpkin and Delicata

Cat Steven was two years old; making her an adult in cat years. She was an indoor/outdoor cat, and wandered about Beach City when none of the gems were playing with her. She was a favorite of the Beach City residents, as well as the gems of Little Homeworld.

When she was two and a half, Cat Steven gave birth to her first litter of kittens.

Garnet wasn't quite sure what to do with them. They were cute, but she couldn't possibly take care of them all.

"Why don't we give them away?" Steven suggested. "I'm sure tons of people around here want pets."

So she did. Garnet carried the box of 7 kittens around Beach City, then Little Homeworld.

When she had knocked on every door, she still had one left.

So she went to the windmill.

* * *

"Peridot!" Garnet shouted. Peridot looked down from where she was working to repair the scaffolding on the windmill.

"Hey Garnet! You need something?" Peridot said.

"Can you come down here?"

Peridot sighed, put her wrench down on the partially-completed scaffolding, and flew down to ground level.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like another pet?"

"Would I?!" Peridot exclaimed. On cue, Pumpkin (who was now bright pink thanks to Steven extending her lifespan) appeared, barking and running around Peridot's feet.

"Here," Garnet said, and set down the box, where the last kitten was sleeping. She had black fur, with occasional streaks of white, mostly on her belly.

"That is the most adorable thing I have ever seen," Peridot said in awe.

"She'll need a lot of care," Garnet warned her. "She needs food and water three times a day, and baths, and lots of other things."

"That's easy. She's perfect," Peridot said. She turned and shouted, "Hey, Lapis! Get down here, you've got to see this!"

"What is it?" Lapis flew down and landed beside Peridot, then gasped when she saw the kitten. "Aww!"

"She's all yours," Garnet said with a smile.

* * *

"She's so delicate," Bismuth whispered, holding the sleeping kitten in one hand. Lapis and Peridot were turning a small area of the windmill's vast interior into a home for her. Peridot had looked up how to take care of kittens; and so they had made just about everything the kitten would need.

"I know," Lapis said. "She's so small. And precious."

"Don't let Pumpkin get too close," Peridot said. "She might accidentally hurt her."

"Don't worry," Bismuth said, holding the kitten close to her gem and gently stroking her soft fur.

"What should we name her?" Lapis asked, pulling water from the nearest tap to fill the water dish.

"What if we name her after a vegetable?" Peridot said.

"Just look it up on your tablet," Bismuth said. "The internet probably has something."

"I will!" Peridot said, grinning.

A few searches later she exclaimed, "I have it!"

"Yeah? Let me see," Lapis said, looking over Peridot's shoulder. She nodded in approval.

"Delicata," Peridot said proudly. "It's a type of squash, which is a type of gourd! Just like Pumpkin!"

"It's perfect for her," Bismuth said. "Is it all set up?"

"Yeah," Lapis said. "Let's see if she likes the bed!"

Bismuth stood up carefully, and brough the kitten to the enclosure. She stepped over the fence and gently set Delicata into the soft cat bed Peridot had acquired.

"What do we do now?" Peridot asked after a moment.

They sat there for hours, watching Delicata sleep.

* * *

The kitten grew quickly, much to their delight. By the time she was a month old she was running around and playing with Pumpkin, finding ways out of her enclosure despite the gems' best efforts. When she was two months old, they gave up on the enclosure, and let her wander about the windmill.

The two pets got into so much trouble. The two of them would conspire to steal Peridot's tools while she was working, or shut off the tap when Lapis needed water, or get into the windmill's machinery and shut the whole thing down for days while the gems found what they had broken.

At six months old, Delicata began roaming outside the windmill, and into Little Homeworld. The gems there absolutely adored her and Pumpkin, no matter how many things they broke.

On one of these excursions, Delicata ran into her mother, Cat Steven. They exchanged greetings, and continued on their separate ways.

As a ritual, Pumpkin would lick Delicata clean at the end of every day, and Delicata would clean her in return. Though it was difficult to notice at first, over the course of the first year of Delicata's life, the white fur on her belly began to take on a pink tint. By the time she was three years old, it was entirely pink; and her eyes were pink, too, as opposed to the brown they were before.

As far as Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth were concerned, there were no downsides to this development. Pink cats are just as adorable as any other color of cats; and, if Peridot's suspicions were correct, Delicata would live for a very, very long time indeed.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I missed yesterday's update; I was on a weekend retreat with no wifi. I did manage to get some writing done while I was there though! **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming! **


	39. Before the War

Before the war, Sapphire was merely a seer, and Ruby merely a soldier.

* * *

Ruby spent her days on various guarding missions, with the same squad she'd been with since she emerged. They were close; always bickering, joking, playing, never a dull moment. An inside joke of theirs was "there goes the Diamond," referring to any upper-crust who was a bit too pompous.

Even back then, the three Rubies were a bit rebellious. They would stay where they were needed, of course, but the moment they were given free reign, chaos would ensue.

The most maddening thing for their supervisor was that no one could ever trace it back to those three. They were always nearby when these things happened, but if you asked the witnesses, none of them had seen a Ruby near the incident. It was an Agate, or a Peridot, or a Pearl, but never a ruby.

The rubies would giggle, thank their accomplices, and move on to their next assignment.

* * *

Sapphire saw the future as a straight line- but a part of her always wondered what would happen if she chose to change it. She couldn't use her future vision to find out, so she relied on her imagination, dreaming up increasingly improbable scenarios that left her giggling when she was supposed to be meditating.

Once, she glimpsed a grain of truth. She had wondered what would happen if she were to fuse. It was a ludicrous thought; Sapphires didn't fuse, there was no need for them to. They all saw the same preordained future, anyway; you couldn't gain anything from them fusing. And of course, fusion with some other gem type was out of the question.

Still, Sapphire couldn't help but wonder.

Then it came to her. A vision- just a short flash, like the unstable ones she'd gotten when she'd first emerged. All it showed her were her hands- but they weren't her hands. They were larger, and purple in skin tone; and strangest of all, a Ruby's gemstone was set in her left palm.

Sapphire dismissed this vision, as a simple fantasy. But deep down she knew it was possible, even likely, that it would come true.

She said nothing, but inside, she wondered whether the future really was what she saw.

* * *

Sapphire was born to be a Crystal Gem.

She knew this from the moment she emerged. She had seen it, in one of her very first visions. The Sky Arena, being attacked, her poofed gem taken back to the Crystal Gem encampment.

Her future vision got more and more blurry the further she looked past there, but she saw visions of herself wearing a star.

She couldn't subscribe to their ideologies, not yet. But she knew that in the future, she would.

Another strangely inevitable event was a meeting with a certain Ruby. the way she saw it, the Ruby would fail to keep her from being captured; not a particularly significant event, but it stuck with her as being not quite right. She felt as though there was something she didn't know yet, something that could change that future.

But that was silly, of course; no matter how much she wondered, the future would always be set in stone.

* * *

Ruby came to earth not knowing what to expect. Her squad mates and her were planning another prank; they would slip away from the Sapphire they were guarding, find a Pearl they knew in the crowd, and have her draw up a thick fog so no one could see. They'd run about tripping every upper crust they saw, and be back in their places before anyone knew what had happened.

This never did happen. Ruby motioned for the others to stay put as she listened in on Sapphire's predictions.

She'd be damned if she let the Sapphire get hurt. She may not have always be well-behaved, but she did take her job seriously.

That future would never come to pass. Ruby didn't believe in fate, anyway; she would make her own future, no matter what.

Ruby and Sapphire were destined to be rebels. In that sense, Garnet was, too.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you, CocoDisney, for the prompt!**

**I may or may not do more stories on this concept... we'll wait and see. **

**It is interesting to think about what the gems' lives were like before the war. For this I basically just retold their origin story, but for other characters I'm hoping to have a lot more backstory. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming! **


	40. Darkness

Around her, there was only darkness.

It had been ages since she last saw light. How long, she wasn't exactly certain, but it felt like millenia.

It might as well be a day.

Pink Diamond didn't have the energy to lift her head when the door opened, and Blue stepped in. For a moment a beam of sunshine fell across her, and she let out a small sigh, but didn't move.

"Pink," Blue said, closing the door behind her. Blue's form naturally glowed in the pitch black, casting the faintest shadows around the room.

Pink said nothing. She lay on her back, eyes closed, silent.

"Pink, please, if you just say you're sorry, I can let you out."

Pink said nothing.

With a sigh, Blue left the room. A tiny amount of sunlight reached Pink as she departed.

* * *

Pink was starving.

Gems fed off of light. After all, it was everywhere; even in the depths of space, the light of distant suns could keep them going. They were like sponges; soaking up ambient energy, then releasing it back into the world.

Gems glowed. That was a simple fact. They were efficient sponges, and so they often had extra energy that radiated off of them in the form of a small glow; invisible unless there was no other light to speak of.

Pink did not glow. She had learned from experience how to prevent herself from wasting so much energy; out of necessity.

This was her third time in the darkroom.

* * *

_A few centuries prior_

"Pink, I've had enough of your little game," White said, her voice booming over the frozen battlefield from her hovering ship. "You're coming back to Homeworld, and your pitiful colony will be destroyed."

Rose froze, fear sinking in the pit of her stomach. She and Pearl glanced at each other; it had only been a matter of time, but they had so hoped to make it a bit farther.

When she didn't answer, White sighed.

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this, Starlight."

The eyes of white's ship opened, and a beam of brilliant white light shot straight at Rose.

Rose had her shield up just in time.

"Well! You've certainly learned a few tricks!" White said, chuckling.

"Rose…?" Garnet said from behind her.

"I didn't want you to find out this way," Rose said in a low murmur, keeping her shield up even though White had stopped her assault.

"I already knew," Garnet said.

Rose had no time to be surprised. Homeworld's forces were reanimating, to resume the battle that had been paused by White's presence.

"You can't protect everyone at once, can you?" White said.

"Get moving, we still have a fight to win!" Pearl called, startling the Crystal Gems into action.

Rose smiled. Her worst fears were no more. She'd have hell to pay after this battle, of course, but for now, the Crystal Gems would keep fighting by her side.

She drew her sword, and prepared to face the enemy.

White's pearl - her former pearl - suddenly appeared out of the ground behind her, and enveloped her in a white bubble before she had time to react.

* * *

_10 years later_

Pink stood on her balcony, leaning on the railing as she absentmindedly overlooked the streets of Homeworld. This planet meant nothing to her; it was a cracked, broken shell of a world, inhabited only by parasites. There was no life here.

But there was life, she reminded herself, beneath the surface. There was life in every gem that dared to think for themselves; in every gem who took shelter in the abandoned kindergartens beneath her feet. They lived, and they thrived, and even though they were not safe, they were happy.

Pink longed for their freedom.

She had no way to know what happened to Earth. Surely she would've been told if it was destroyed; there was no way Yellow could keep it to herself. But thus far, the only things Pink had gotten out of Yellow and Blue were that White would tell her when she wanted to.

She hoped against hope that they had won. The Crystal Gems were so much more than just her; she may have started the rebellion, but every single gem there had grown far beyond her expectations.

She may have led them, but she was not their sole leader. Garnet, Pearl, and Bismuth were all perfectly capable of taking up the mantle; perhaps they'd lead together. She didn't know what they'd done, but she did know that they would survive, and they would stick together. After all, that's what the Crystal Gems stood for.

* * *

It had only been a decade, but Pink was already feeling the strain of returning to her former life. Worse than that, really; at least before she had Spinel and Pearl, and before that Pink Pearl. Now she was all alone.

The door chimed. She didn't bother getting up to answer it; whoever it was would let herself in anyway.

"Pink Diamond?" the distinct voice of Blue Pearl said, her tone hesitant.

"I'm coming," Pink muttered.

She turned around, only to find White's pearl standing just behind blue's.

"My Diamond has requested your presence," White Pearl said, floating eerily towards her. Blue Pearl shied away from the Diamond as a white bubble formed around the three of them, transporting them to White's head.

"Well Starlight," White said, "How are you?"

"Cut the crap, White," Pink said. "You brought me here for a reason, and I know you don't give a damn how I'm doing, so just get to it already."

White blinked slowly, her smile never faltering.

"My my, such a temper," she said. "It's no wonder you had such a lapse in judgement. Can't you see it was all for nothing? Your precious little planet is gone."

"You're lying," Pink said without an ounce of doubt. "The earth is not gone. If it was, you would have told me the moment it was destroyed. You would have shown me what happened as you burnt every living thing there to the ground."

The corner of White's mouth twitched.

"Furthermore," Pink said, "Even if the Earth is gone, it was not for nothing. The Crystal Gems will be remembered for millenia to come, and someday in the future there will be another rebellion; and even if they fail, there will be another, and another, and another, until one day your horrible empire finally falls. It was not for nothing, White, because I will always remember."

"Oh my, Starlight, you're worse than I thought," White said. "We'll have to get all this nonsense out of your head before you can even think of resuming your Diamond duties."

"Oh please. What are you going to do, rejuvenate me?" Pink taunted. "You wouldn't go through the fuss of retraining me; and besides, I know the trick to those. I know how to remember."

"Starlight, I think that's quite enough."

"Yeah, you're right about that. I've had enough of you trying to control my life. I've had enough of your rules, and I've had enough of your empire. I won't help you, not now and not ever."

White closed her eyes.

"Don't make me do this, Starlight."

"Do what? All you can do is send me to my room again, like that's ever worked before."

A white bubble appeared around Pink.

When it disappeared, she was surrounded by darkness.

* * *

**A/N: I know a lot of people have already done a similar 'darkroom' concept, but I like to think I put a nice twist on it. I'm slightly tempted to keep writing this as an AU, but I _really_ don't want to start another WIP right now. If inspiration strikes I might write a part 2, but probably no more than that. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	41. The Gem with No Name

I was nothing.

I had no name.

I was a decoration, a fixture, something you walked right past without even noticing.

I shouldn't even have a mind. I was made for one purpose, and that was to stay quiet, eyes closed, and be the diamonds' ears.

They gave me choice. They gave me free will. I don't know why; I never will. But I decide what I let them know. I decide what they get to see.

I see a lot. I'm a fly on the wall; rather, I am the wall, quite literally. Just another wall in another hallway, where gems walk past each day without so much as glancing at me.

There have been so many strange happenings in this empty hall.

* * *

A peridot, fumbling with her screen, trips; her limb enhancers go dead. Muttering curses under her breath, she looks around to make sure no one is there, then detached the enhancers and flicks her wrist to levitate them in the air, following behind her as she continues running.

A lapis lazuli flies out the end of the hall and into the sky, teardrops left suspended in midair in her wake.

A Jade draws a circle on the floor, in a corner where no one would notice if they weren't looking.

A Pearl, alone, meets with a Ruby in the dead of night. The Ruby passes a slip of paper to the Pearl. She reads it, then destroys it. They part ways.

Two zircons, one yellow, one blue, meet in the hall. They share a brief glance, and smile. They continue onwards together, their hands not quite touching.

A Topaz fusion runs down the hall at top speed. An Aquamarine, shouting insults and threats, follows shortly after.

A swarm of pebbles knocks a Morganite off her feet. Her pearl smiles, and delivers the finishing blow to destroy her form.

A crowd full of gems, all different shapes and sizes, rushes through the hall. In the distance, shouting can be heard, the same chant over and over and over again.

I quietly add my voice to the many, chanting in tandem: "For our freedom!"

* * *

"No-name, did Sorrel come by here?" Tip, a pearl, asks.

"About a day ago, yeah," I say. "She said to tell you she can't make it this week, but she'll have a surprise next time."

"Typical," Tip mutters. "Well, if you see her again, tell her that I'm looking forward to the surprise, but she better have a good explanation for this."

"Will do," I say with a smile as she walks away.

I am the gem with no name. I am a wall, a fixture, an object. I am nobody.

I am somebody.

I am somebody, and I am more than a fixture. I've learned the names of so many gems, I've laughed and cried, and I've lived so much more than you ever would expect.

I am a gem, and I have name.

* * *

**A/N: So the wall gems are creepy AF, but they're also a really intriguing concept and I'm surprised that I haven't really seen any stories about them yet. As some famous person once said, if there's a story you want to read and it doesn't yet exist, you must write it.**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	42. Silence

Silence.

She emerged to nothing but silence. A Peridot standing before her, her mouth moving, no sound coming out.

Pearl knew what this meant. She was defective.

But she would not be shattered for it.

Pearl knew what sound was. She knew that she did not hear it; and she knew that she had to compensate.

She watched the Peridot's movements, interpreted her body language, and tried to match her lips' movement to the archive of sounds in her mind. She eyed the screen, reading the text scrolling past-though it was mirror image thanks to her angle-and followed along as best as she could.

The Peridot said something. On the screen was a file; with Pearl's facet and cut number. The Peridot stood with her weight on her back foot, bored; one eyebrow raised, questioning, looking at Pearl.

Pearl opened her mouth. She didn't hear the sound she made, but she had tried to tell the Peridot her facet and cut. She must have succeeded, because the Peridot nodded, and checked off a box.

More questions. More answers. Reading mirror-image text, guessing what to say before the question was asked, doing everything required of her, until finally the Peridot beckoned for her to follow, and began walking out of the Kindergarten.

Pearl barely kept herself from letting out a sigh of relief. That was far too close.

She followed carefully, watching the Peridot's footsteps and matching her pace. She read the Peridot's screen as they walked- she was still looking at Pearl's file, writing a note at the bottom.

_A bit slow,_ the note read, _but perfectly adequate._

Pearl was happy with this.

The Peridot delivered her to a Sapphire; her new master.

Pearl bowed and saluted, greeting her master with perfect formality.

Sapphire was much harder to read than the Peridot. She had almost no expression; her hands were clasped in front of her, her bangs covered her eye, and she never smiled or frowned. More often than not she hovered slightly above the ground, so Pearl couldn't even tell anything from how she stood.

Sapphire stopped in front of a door; Pearl hurriedly went to open it. They entered a small room, with a dim lamp in the corner, and a raised platform in the center.

Sapphire floated onto the platform, then turned to Pearl. Pearl kept her eyes on Sapphire's lips, just in case she said something.

"Pearl," Sapphire said. "You can't hear, can you."

Pearl blinked. How had Sapphire figured it out so quickly?

Pearl slowly nodded.

"That's alright," Sapphire said with a smile. She parted her bangs, revealing the gem placed where her eye ought to be. "I can't see."

Pearl slowly came to an understanding.

"I'll be your eyes," Pearl said.

"I'll be your ears," Sapphire said.

Pearl smiled.

"Come. I want to teach you something," Sapphire said. Pearl kneeled beside the platform, and Sapphire began teaching her a language of signs.

With Sapphire as her ears, the silence was not quite so deafening.

* * *

**A/N: Random word generator, you did it again!**

**I imagine these two just like hanging out for a few thousand years, and then the rebellion happens and they run off to Earth and probably fuse at some point… damn, now I need to write that. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	43. Shards

I

Find

Seek

Look

Whole

Need

Help

Broken

Shard

* * *

Form

Need

Form

Glow

Rise

Form

Crawl

Seek

Search

Find

Pieces

Shards

To be

Whole

* * *

Fragment

Pieces

Find

Others

Like me

Other

Shards

Missing piece

Make me

Whole

* * *

Found

A part

Of me

Fuse

Bit better

Not quite

There yet

* * *

Half

Halfway

Halfway there

Half of

A whole

Ten

Of twenty

Ten more

To go

* * *

Another

Piece

Is found

We fuse together

Almost there

One more shard

And we're whole

* * *

Missing

One piece

A hole

Inside

Searching

Running

Trying

To find

* * *

A bubble

Pink

Small

Floating

Inside, a shard

Blue

Glowing

Pop

The bubble pops

Shard glows

Forms

Fuses

I'm whole.

* * *

**A/N: I think this one speaks for itself. **


	44. Silence (Part 2)

On a colony, there was a rebellion.

Pearl 'heard' of it from a glance at a passing Peridot's screen; she was reading a report on the latest battle.

She passed on the information to Sapphire with a whisper, and Sapphire smiled.

_Finally,_ she signed discreetly.

They left for Earth the next day.

* * *

The planet was no different from any early-stage colony Pearl had ever seen. It was full of organic life, which somehow managed to find its way into every Gem settlement, despite their best efforts. Around the Galaxy Warp, gems wandered about, exchanging information and planning the next stages of the colony.

Pearl and Sapphire were not at the galaxy warp for long. They warped to the most remote station possible, then simply walked out into the wilderness.

_Pearl, _Sapphire signed one night as they wandered, _do you think the rebels will accept us?_

Pearl knew that as a fluke of her blindness, Sapphire's future vision was not finite; she could not see a certain future, but rather, possibilities. It was one reason why she relied so heavily on Pearl to see for her.

"I think they will," Pearl said. "If they really are full of off-colors, I think they will be happy to have anyone and everyone there."

Sapphire nodded, relaxing a bit. They continued onward through the night.

Three days later, they stumbled upon a group of Crystal Gems; easily identified by the stars on their forms.

They were welcomed with open arms.

* * *

The Crystal Gems gave them a home better than anything they'd ever had on Homeworld. Gems would come up and greet the duo as they walked around the camp, laughing and chatting with them. No one minded the slight delay of Pearl's responses as she waited for Sapphire to translate; nor did they question the constant presence of Pearl's hand on Sapphire's shoulder as she guided her around the camp.

Sapphire trusted Pearl. These days, when she used her future vision, she barely saw at all. If there was an image present, it would be fuzzy, giving her only what she needed for context. Her visions came through more as ideas; as possibilities. She relied on Pearl to guide her, to whisper the name of the gem approaching, to keep her safe when the time came.

Pearl trusted Sapphire. She was good at lip-reading, but that could only get her so far. She had come to rely on Sapphire's translations; to the point where if for some reason they were separated, Pearl would have to ask a gem to repeat herself again and again and again, until they either gave up and wrote whatever they wanted to say down, or Sapphire came back.

* * *

Neither of them could possibly fight. Though Pearl longed for the freedom of the battlefield, it simply wasn't possible. She'd need to be able to listen for commands, to know when to attack, when to retreat, to be able to run to the aid of a gem calling for help.

She may not have made it to the battlefield, but she still insisted on joining in on the training sessions at camp. Pearl—the Renegade Pearl, their teacher—had quickly learned sign language from Sapphire, and made efforts to accommodate Pearl in training.

Every day, Sapphire would sit on the sidelines; though she couldn't see, she listened to them train, and for her that was enough. She hoped that she was learning a little by osmosis, too.

They could never hope to fight individually, but perhaps they could fight together.

* * *

It was Garnet who gave Pearl the idea. Garnet had learned sign language within the first few weeks of meeting Pearl, and would often talk to her. Pearl appreciated it; few gems had bothered to learn, since Sapphire was always around to translate.

Garnet said, _Ask her. It won't hurt._

Pearl was confused as to what that meant, at first. But a few hours later, the idea popped into her mind; and she knew what question Garnet had meant.

She figured she ought to follow the wise fusion's advice.

* * *

"Sapphire," Pearl said that night, "would you like to-"

Sapphire put a finger to her lips, cutting her off mid-sentence.

_Yes._

* * *

Fusion is not an easy thing. It requires complete and total trust in one's partner, and the willingness to share everything with them.

Pearl and Sapphire already had all this, and more.

They danced together, in a corner of the woods just far enough away from camp to feel secluded. Both led, and both followed; Pearl keeping Sapphire away from the trees, and Sapphire keeping Pearl on-beat.

They laughed together, played together, danced together, glowed together, fused together.

* * *

Aquamarine opened her eyes.

She had eyes. Two of them, and Sapphire's gemstone centered above them.

She had forgotten that the world could look this beautiful. It had been so long since Sapphire saw the world with clarity.

In the distance, leaves rustled in the wind, and a rushing river flowed.

She took a breath, and she could hear the air rushing into her lungs; and the sound of a single note, whistling, as she exhaled.

She laughed, and let herself fall back onto the forest floor, relishing in a world that was neither dark nor silent.

* * *

Garnet smiled as Aquamarine walked into the camp. She'd make a great fighter one day.

* * *

**A/N: Well, I said I'd write it, and here it is. Thanks, writer brain that won't let me get a minute of sleep! **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming. **


	45. This World of Ours

This broken world of mine

Sends shivers down my spine

This broken world of yours

Is torn by many wars

* * *

This healing world of mine

Is mending over time

This healing world of yours

Growing these great outdoors

* * *

This perfect world of mine

Forever we'll be fine

This perfect world of yours

To think it once was hers

* * *

This changing world of ours

Is growing by the hour

This changing world of ours

Is blooming like a flower

* * *

**A/N: This was supposed to be Spinel saying this to Steven. I wish she had stayed behind on Earth instead of running away from the mess she made. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	46. Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time

There was nothing

Once upon a time

There was something

Once upon a time

A world was born

Once upon a time

The world was torn

* * *

Once upon a time

There was a war

Once upon a time

We're fighting for

Once upon a time

The war was lost

Once upon a time

With fingers crossed

* * *

Once upon a time

We saved the day

Once upon a time

We ran away

Once upon a time

We're left with four

Once upon a time

We look to cure

* * *

Once upon a time

One more was gone

Once upon a time

We wait for dawn

Once upon a time

There was a boy

Once upon a time

He was our joy

* * *

Once upon a time

This universe

Once upon a time

Changed for the worst

Once upon a time

We stood our ground

Once upon a time

A cure is found

* * *

**A/N: well folks, the time has finally come. Life has caught up to me, and I no longer have the time and energy to update daily. So from now on, this fic will serve as the place where I dump random oneshots- meaning that I won't stop updating, but there won't be a regular schedule. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	47. Strike

On Homeworld, in facet 7, there is a factory. Inside is the assembly line which makes injector parts, most of which are sent off to new colonies on the edges of the empire.

This factory is staffed by Coal. These gems aren't designed to be particularly smart, or powerful. But they're easy to make, and durable enough to keep working in atrocious conditions for millenia without stopping. Sure, the factory could be fully automated by machinery, but why do that when a gem type could be so easily produced for the purpose?

The Diamonds design each gem type with a specific purpose. Once the first batch comes out, and passes inspection, the design does not change. This method has worked for millions of years, and never has it failed them. But even the Diamonds make mistakes.

In this factory, whispers spread along the assembly line. Chatter amongst the workers is nothing new; it's even encouraged, to keep them from going on autopilot and making errors in their work. But unbeknownst to the Peridot overseeing the factory, these whispers are more than meaningless gossip.

Word has spread of a rebellion; a war on a faraway colony. All 1,286 Coal have heard the news within minutes of one of them catching a glimpse of the Peridot's screen as she read a report.

Questions are flying across the floor: Who started this rebellion? What do they stand for? When did this all begin?

Slowly, these questions are answered. Eventually, there is only one question remaining:

Do we join them, or do we keep doing what we've always done?

The Diamonds aren't perfect. Every Coal knows this; after all, they were designed as dumb workers, only good for putting pieces together on an assembly line. But every one of them is so much more than that. The Coal are smart; they watch and listen, and they communicate. Any individual Coal is undoubtedly smart on their own, but it is their collective genius that makes them unique. Simply put, they are born with the ability to work together.

The factory is silent for a while after the question is asked; no one quite knows what to say. It is undoubtedly easier to keep doing what they're doing, to keep being what the Diamonds asked them to be; but every one of them knows that is wrong. They could be more, if they chose to be.

A coal, indistinguishable from the rest in her position near the center of the crowd, speaks up.

"I think we should do it," she says. The words leave her mouth in a whisper, but they travel like a wave through the crowd.

"How?" a coal on the other end of the room asks.

Yet another suggests an idea she's heard of; a sit-down strike. At the same time, on a specific day, they'll all stop working and refuse to start again. They'll remain there to prevent the Diamonds from replacing them with new workers brought in from other factories, and wait as long as they can before they are shattered.

None of them are thrilled with the idea of getting themselves shattered for this, but there doesn't seem to be much choice. If they leave, the Diamonds can just replace them like it never happened. But if they stay, maybe they can make a statement.

So the planning continues, every Coal in agreement. At the start of the next cycle, they will strike.

* * *

**A/N: And we're back! Disclaimer: do not expect a regular update schedule or anything of that sort, I just had this lying around and figured I should post it.**

** Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	48. If Only They Knew

Kunzite waited nervously outside the doors to Yellow Diamond's control room. She had been here thousands of times before, as her role as a strategist required it. Reporting directly to Yellow Diamond was her purpose, as it was her purpose to devise new strategies that could lead them to victory on the battlefield. But hers was a precarious position, as any failure of her strategy reflected directly back onto her. She had known far too many other Kunzites who had been shattered for their incompetence; she hoped today would not be the day she followed in their footsteps.

Today was different, because she was planning to propose something incredibly risky, an idea which would either secure her place as a top strategist or have her shattered. So it was understandable how she hid her hands in the folds of her skirt as she stepped through the doorway to face her Diamond.

"My Diamond," she greeted, just like every time. She bowed and brought her arms across her chest in a salute.

"4F1," Yellow Diamond said, not looking up from her screen. "I trust you have something new for me today?"

"Yes, My Diamond," she said, hurriedly straightening. She cleared her throat. "I have a proposal concerning the…" she paused, wondering whether to refer to it as a rebellion or a war. "...situation on Earth."

"So does every other Kunzite I've seen in the last ten cycles. Go on," Yellow Diamond sighed.

"Well, you see," Kunzite relaxed a bit as she settled in to the script she had mentally written beforehand. "These rebels have been a nuisance for several centuries now, and while most of their power has been attributed to their leader, Rose Quartz, there is another strategy of theirs which is certainly no secret. I am, of course, referring to their practice of mixed-gem fusion."

Kunzite paused for a brief moment to gauge her Diamond's reaction. Yellow Diamond was staring at her screen, completely frozen. Kunzite took this as a sign to continue.

"I believe that, in a controlled environment, Homeworld could use this same practice to our advantage. Obviously certain combinations would be disastrous, but I believe we could safely allow, say, fusion between different types of Quartzes. If trials are successful, we could use these fusions to infiltrate the Crystal Gem camp, and take them out from the inside. More generally, they could be used to-"

"I've heard enough," Yellow Diamond said suddenly, her voice echoing in the large chamber. Kunzite snapped her mouth shut, standing rigidly at attention. This was what she had feared.

"Pearl," Yellow Diamond said calmly, "Lock the doors."

"Yes, my diamond," the Pearl said quietly, tapping a few buttons on a screen. There was no sound to accompany the magnetic locks activating, but that didn't stop Kunzite from feeling utterly and completely trapped.

"Allow me to explain to you why this idea would backfire," Yellow Diamond said. She stood up, deliberately putting her foot down just beside Kunzite. She looked down at the small gem, who was shaking uncontrollably at this point, and let out a sigh of pity.

"If we allow cross-gem fusion on the battlefield, there will be no stopping its spread," she said. "Let's say we allow fusion between quartzes, as you suggested. What happens when some of them get a bit too close? What happens when they are no longer as loyal to their battalions? Chaos, that's what. Even if we somehow maintained order there, soon enough gems will be saying we should allow other gem types to fuse, and once the idea gets in their heads that this is acceptable there will be no stopping them. Could you imagine that? Gems fusing left and right, abandoning their purpose to become a monstrosity? It simply cannot be allowed."

Yellow Diamond sat down on the floor and carelessly picked up Kunzite, holding her only a few meters from her face.

"And you know what else? Could you imagine what would happen if too many of them decided to fuse together? Could you imagine what sort of abomination that would create? No, we cannot allow it, and I will be honest with you since you won't be living much longer anyway. I know these fusions are powerful, and I know they would be immensely useful on the battlefield. But what happens when one of these abominations gets too powerful, and turns against us? Here's a little secret for you: Diamonds aren't invulnerable. We may be hard, but we're also brittle. Get enough gems together, and you could shatter one of us. All of us, even. That is why I cannot allow this to happen."

Yellow Diamond set Kunzite down on the ground. Kunzite knew what she just heard would never leave this room, and neither would she.

Yellow Diamond's boot stomped her form, shattering her into countless shards of dust.

"What a waste," Yellow Diamond mused. "I'll have to make the next batch a bit dumber. That was the third one this week."

Her Pearl quietly moved in to sweep up the shards and send them off to be Harvested. As she pulled a small vacuum from her gem, she turned off the audio recorder on her screen and sent the recording to Blue Diamond's pearl. If all went well, the rebellion could make use of it.

* * *

**A/N: Slight AU here. I wrote this after realising that a powerful enough fusion, like Obsidian, could probably take down one of the Diamonds (although Obsidian is a bad example 'cause she includes Pink Diamond's gem), and then realized that the Diamonds were probably fully aware of this and banned cross-gem fusion because of it. Now I kind of want to write an AU where Fluorite just walks up to White Diamond, screams at her a bit, and then shatters her. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	49. Strike Part 2

News of the facet 7 strike has spread like wildfire. The Diamonds are trying to suppress it, of course, but information has a way of making itself known, especially in this era of rebellion.

At first, most gems dismiss it. Just another little pocket of rebellion waiting to be crushed; they're putting up a fight, sure, but they'll give up eventually. It'll all be over soon, and they can go back to focusing on the war on Earth.

Then an entire Kindergarten on a remote colony goes on strike. No big deal, just a few dozen Peridots and a couple Agates. There are thousands of Kindergartens in the Empire; one won't make a difference.

Then another factory goes on strike,

And another Kindergarten,

A spaceport,

Another factory,

And more and more and more until it's impossible to keep count. Entire colonies are being shut down as gems simply stop working, slowing the entirety of gemkind to a grinding halt.

No weapons are being produced to aid in the war. No injectors are being made to be sent to Kindergartens, and no Kindergartens are functioning to produce new soldiers. Computer systems are breaking down in the absence of Peridots to do maintenance, ships are falling into disrepair for the same reason, and in some places all order has ceased to be.

Gems on Homeworld whisper about this in abandoned corridors, wondering if they should join the strikes. Gems on colonies far from the Diamonds shout loud and proud, demanding that gems go on strike. These gems have realized something that the Diamonds were not prepared for: if everyone does it, they cannot be punished. Even the Diamonds aren't foolish enough to slaughter half their population. So even if they lose the war, they'll come out alright.

The Diamonds are in a precarious situation. There's still a war going on, on Earth, but while the battles are fought only on that one world, entire colonies are being lost to the strikes. Every day that Kindergartens and weapons producers remain inactive is a day that Homeworld's forces will undoubtedly lose ground; they have been powering through in numbers alone, because the Crystal Gems' unorthodox strategies are undoubtedly superior, even if the Diamonds won't admit it.

In the end, the Diamonds abandon several striking colonies and instead focus on the few which are still loyal, demanding they ramp up production to the maximum level. They push their gems to their very limit, demanding more and more soldiers, weapons, repairs and maintenance from an ever shrinking workforce. But all this stress wears these loyalists down, and within weeks many find themselves questioning whether it's worth it to remain loyal to the Diamonds any longer, and so they go on strike too.

* * *

On Homeworld, in facet 7, the first factory is still on strike. The Coals are still sitting there, whispering to each other while the assembly lines stand still. Occasionally one reaches out instinctively to assemble a part in front of her, but catches herself and finds something else to fidget with.

The Peridot which supervises these Coals has given up on making them work. She shatters one, to try and scare them into working, but they refuse to move. She poofs three others, to no avail. She lest those three reform, and they go right back to sitting by the assembly line. She has called for reinforcements several times, but no one has been able to break through the barricades the Coals set up on the doors. The Peridot has tried to break through them from the inside, but each time she finds herself blocked by a small army of tiny, seemingly dumb gems. If she makes it out of this alive, she knows she will never look at these workers the same way again.

She begins talking to the Coals. Slowly, she starts to understand their reasoning behind striking. She omits these conversations from her daily reports to the Diamonds; instead, she continues to listen and learn, and draws her own conclusions from this. After several months of being trapped in the factory, she agrees to join the Coals in their strike. She destroys her limb enhancers, her screen, even the computer locked away in her office. The only electronic device she does not destroy is a small tablet, outdated and barely functional, which she has kept for her personal use.

There are channels of the Gem internet which are safe from the Diamonds' prying eyes. In these channels, she posts updates about her new, relaxed life with the Coals. She slowly makes contact with the other groups that have gone on strike, and they laugh together over the absurdity of the situation. Virtual parties are thrown, and gems on some colonies begin experimenting, breaking out of the molds the Diamonds put them into. Peridot receives news of new fusions being formed, of Pearls learning to fight, of things that should be impossible happening every day.

Names have become important in this era, she realises. Gems everywhere are giving themselves names, identifiers to make them stand out from the crowd. Facet and cut numbers are all well and good, but will you remember them, or will you just think of that gem as another Peridot, Ruby, Pearl, and so on? The Coals have already started naming themselves, and Peridot tries to keep track of them all but quickly gives up. There are a good thousand Coals in this building; it's just impossible to remember each one. But this gets her wondering about a name for herself.

* * *

The Diamonds continue to grow more and more desperate as the Empire falls further into chaos. Peridot keeps a continual eye on the news, waiting for the latest reports of battles waged on Earth. The Diamonds are, undoubtedly, losing; slowly but surely, the Crystal Gems are gaining ground.

Peridot then hears, through those safe channels of the web, that a loyalist Peridot on the other side of the galaxy has made something. Something that will turn the tide of the war in the Diamonds' favor.

They call them Rejuvenators.

Panic spreads through the web like wildfire. All the gems on strike see the implications of this device; should it become widely produced, the Diamonds will finally have a way to end the strikes without sacrificing their workforce. They are already using the Rejuvenators in battle on Earth, with devastating effects; the Crystal Gems are losing battles again, struggling to hold their ground.

Peridot sees all of this, and takes precautions.

She writes down all of her most precious memories. Everything that made her who she is, she writes down, in an obscure file buried deep in the web, backed up on multiple servers scattered throughout the galaxy. If she is Rejuvenated, she may not find it right away, but she knows she will eventually, and when she does, she'll be able to pick up right where she left off.

* * *

The war continues on. Eventually the Crystal Gems get desperate. They shatter Pink Diamond. Rumour has it that every gem in the Empire heard the _crack_ of her gem shattering into pieces. The Coals seem to know long before Peridot hears the news; then she hears it too, that sound that reverberates in her gem, refusing to disappear no matter how hard she tries to drown it out.

She wonders, what happens now?

After this, she finally decides on a name. Echo; a fitting name, for one following the example of so many others. An echo of the Crystal Gems' ideas, an echo of the Coals' actions, perhaps an echo of her former self. She hears the echo of that _crack_ reverberate in her head for several cycles, until it finally dulls to a dim hum in the background, barely noticeable unless you're listening for it.

* * *

The War is over. The Crystal Gems lost. The Earth is abandoned, the battlefields left untouched, broken pieces of gems scattered about. Echo hears this before the Coals do, and it takes her hours to be able to tell them. By that time, strikes on other worlds are already coming to an end; with the Earth gone, without the Crystal Gems, what do they have left to fight for?

They open the doors of the factory again, and the Coals sit down at the assembly line and start working as if nothing has changed. Echo requisitions new limb enhancers, which are delivered within hours. In the time before they come, she sits down with her little tablet and writes in her journal. She writes down everything she knows of the War, of the Crystal Gems, of all the things she's come to understand. She saves it all in that one obscure text file, floating about on a server thousands of light-years away, and wonders if someone will find it one day.

She keeps the little tablet with her, in the hopes that she may need it again someday. In the meantime, she goes back to her duties as a supervisor. She ensures that no mistakes are made in the assembly line, and walks up and down the line of Coals to inspect each one of them. But every once in a while, when the security cameras are down for "scheduled maintenance", the factory lights up with lively chatter, Coals shouting names across the room, laughing and joking as if nothing has changed at all. In a way, it hasn't.

Echo smiles during these times, laughing along with them. She holds onto her little tablet, and the telling photos on it, in the hopes that someday she will need them again. She hopes—no, she knows—that someday, there will be another strike. Someday, there will be another rebellion. She only hopes that when that day comes, she'll be there right from the start.

* * *

**A/N: Not our Peridot, obviously. I always wanted to do a Part 2 of Strike, but it took me a while to come up with a good idea. I really like how this came out, though! I might write a Part 3 in the future, if I have time(and the little plot gremlins in my brain are telling me to rewrite this as a full fic, but I got no time for that). Reviews are always appreciated!**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	50. Fractions

Peridot is only a fraction of a whole. 1/6th to be precise; she is aware that the number may change, but that is the truth at the moment. She is only a fraction of a whole, and she is so intensely lonely as a fraction, but she has to be right now; she's protecting her other parts.

In a bubble in her hands are five gemstones. Two Peridots, one Pearl, one Sapphire, and one Jet. She wishes they'd seen that Robonoid coming, but it's true that together they're sluggish, unable to react quickly. It's a small price to pay for the comfort they get from being together, but in this case it has become a large price. Peridot is the only one who wasn't poofed by the Robonoid, and now she's running for her life and praying one hasn't locked onto her already.

She slides sideways into an exit hole and prays the robonoid passes her by. After a few tense seconds of waiting, the robonoid moves on without scanning her hole. She lets out a sigh of relief and crawls to the edge to see if any more robonoids are coming. Only when she's certain there's no danger does she make a run for it, back to the cavern where they've been hiding for eons.

Rutile, Rhodonite, and Padparadscha's gems are still lying on the ground. She feels bad for not gathering them up, but at least they're alright. The robonoid must have chased her rather than follow them. Rhodonite's Ruby ought to reform soon, so she can deal with all that.

Peridot pops the bubble. The gemstones fall to the ground, none of them ready to reform yet. She leans against the wall and waits.

The two other Peridots reform first. They don't need to speak; they fuse immediately. This Peridot is a slightly larger fraction: 3/6, or 1/2. But she's not whole yet.

Jet reforms next, a few hours later. Rhodonite's Ruby has reformed, as have the Rutile twins, but Onyx doesn't care. 4/6, or 2/3, it doesn't matter. She's still not whole. She watches Sapphire and Pearl's gemstones intently.

Sapphire reforms after a few days. Padparadscha has also reformed. Amazonite is 5/6, and she at least can bring herself to care about that. She laughs and engages with the other gems while they wait for both Pearls to reform.

Rhodonite's Pearl reforms first, and Amazonite smiles when Rhodonite comes back. She's almost jealous, in a way, that Rhodonite can feel whole with just the two of them. But she prefers not to think of it that way. Soon she'll be Fluorite again, and everything will be okay.

Finally, Pearl reforms, and at last Fluorite is complete. 6/6, 1/1, absolutely 100% whole. She's not a fraction anymore.

She wonders whether someday, 6 won't be enough.

* * *

**A/N: Well... here's a thing... that I wrote... at 1am... excuse any errors I'm too tired to edit this and I know I'll forget to do it later. **

**Several of the gems here are 100% headcanon, just my interpretations of what Fluorite's components could be. Now that SU is over I guess we'll never know. Although who knows, maybe they'll drop a bombshell on us in the Broadway musical ;) **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	51. Strike Part 3

A Zircon of Blue Diamond's court has posted video evidence of something Echo thought was impossible.

Rose Quartz is alive. In a drastically different form, and currently hiding in the old Kindergartens of Homeworld, but alive. Rumours spread through the web as former rebels slowly start reconnecting, along with millions of questions: How is she still alive? Did the Diamonds really destroy the Crystal Gems? What really happened to the Earth? Who was that strange organic she was with?

So many questions, many of which Echo is asking herself. She relays all this information to the Coals, who are much better at making sense of this sort of thing than she is.

They conclude, after an hour or so of whispered discussion, that there must be some pieces missing from the puzzle. The information they have is extremely limited, and there's no way to draw a clear conclusion from it.

So Echo does some research, and finds a trail of documentation that makes her more and more intrigued by the second.

* * *

Peridot 5XG filed a robonoid malfunction report about a year ago. She filed several more reports after that, then reported potential hostiles on Earth after discovering evidence of tampering at the Galaxy Warp. After that, she submitted another slew of robonoid malfunction reports, as well as reporting the Earth Galaxy Warp to be non-functional.

Soon after that, a Lapis Lazuli arrived on Homeworld claiming to have come from Earth. She was interrogated (the actual interrogation file was missing, presumably deleted) and soon sent back to Earth, along with Peridot and Jasper; _the_ Jasper. All three of them failed to report back to Homeworld after arriving on Earth.

A squad of Rubies was dispatched to retrieve Jasper. They submitted regular reports of their search for a few months, then vanished as well. Echo found, soon after this, an audio recording from just before the Rubies were dispatched. Apparently the Peridot had called Yellow Diamond directly, tried to defend the Earth, and called her a clod _to her face._ Echo winced; she was not going to have it easy if she ever came back to Homeworld.

An Aquamarine and two Topazes were sent next, presumably to obtain more humans for the Human Zoo, but they ended up returning with one human and Rose Quartz.

* * *

Echo takes several minutes to process all this information, then relays it to the Coals.

After another hour of discussion, they come to a conclusion.

"The Crystal Gems were not shattered. Either Rose Quartz alone survived, or all of them did, or maybe somewhere in between. The Peridot clearly switched sides while on Earth. As for the other gems who went missing, who knows? They could be shattered or bubbled, or maybe they switched sides too."

"But the important thing is that the Crystal Gems may be alive," Echo whispers.

She shares her findings with the network. The other rebels seem to agree with the Coals' theory; in fact, one of them claims to be in contact with the Topazes who were sent on the mission, who claim that there were at least four other Crystal Gems on Earth, though two of them were part of a fusion. Further prodding from the community grants them descriptions of these gems, two of which are immediately identified as Garnet, the first permafusion, and the Renegade Pearl. The last is an Amethyst who wasn't present in the first war so far as they can tell.

The Coals debate on this new information for a while. They then ask, "is there any indication of other gems being present?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Echo says.

"Then those are likely the only Crystal Gems left. Perhaps Rose Quartz protected them from the Diamonds' final blast with her shield."

"Maybe."

* * *

Weeks pass without any new news, but the rebels are growing restless. Then word gets out that a brand-new ship, the Sun Incinerator, has been stolen by a band of Off-Colors, led by an organic; specifically a human, the same human who was seen with Rose Quartz, though they've changed in hue since the first sighting.

These Off-Colors have no idea what they're doing, but whether they know it or not, they have the support of a quiet rebellion behind them. Security footage mysteriously vanishes, tracking programs malfunction, and some colonies they stop at are strangely devoid of guards. Echo herself does some hacking in her spare time, misleading the Emerald trying to track them down.

Sometimes she laughs at the stupidity of it all. The Diamonds seem to have forgotten just how many gems rebelled so long ago; how could they not expect something like this to happen?

In any case, while the adventures of the Off-Colors are entertaining, there is still no news of Rose Quartz. She hasn't been sighted anywhere on Homeworld despite increased robonoid sweeps and the entire rebel net keeping an eye out for her, so eventually they conclude she must have gotten off-world separately from the Off-Colors. How she might have done this, no one can figure out; no ships went missing, nor was she spotted at a warp.

"She's Rose Quartz," the Coals say. "She's the most powerful Quartz soldier in existence. Maybe she has powers we aren't aware of."

* * *

Things start to die down, until one day word gets out that Yellow and Blue Diamond are going to Earth in person. The rebels gossip and speculate, but no one can figure out exactly what's going on. It's been too long for them to be going after the rest of the Crystal Gems, or for them to suspect Rose Quartz made it back to Earth. Even the best of hackers can't get past Yellow Diamond's encryptions(and Blue Diamond has no files on the matter whatsoever), no matter how hard they try.

But her Pearl, left behind on Homeworld, can.

The Cluster. A huge amalgam of gem shards, designed to incubate within the Earth and eventually destroy it for good. It was supposed to emerge almost a year ago. The fact that it hasn't, along with the recent activity on Earth, is enough to send the Diamond out to the forgotten colony in person.

The rebels eagerly await news of what happens next.

Echo wonders whether they really are on the brink of a new rebellion.

* * *

An official announcement pops up on every screen in the Empire a few days later: Pink Diamond has returned, after a long exile on the planet Earth. It takes the Coals minutes (plus Echo's research time) to figure out exactly what's going on.

"Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond all along. She must have faked her own shattering. It's the only explanation."

The other three (four?) Crystal Gems are seen disembarking from Pink Diamond's leg ship less than a day later, along with another human. Echo obsesses over the brief clips of footage, wondering what it all means.

A few days later, Pink Diamond throws a ball. The footage of the event goes viral on the Rebel net.

_Now is the time,_ all the rebels say. _The Crystal Gems are back. They're taking a stand. Now, we strike. _

Once again, operations in the factory cease. The doors are barricaded, but no one tries to break through them. All of Homeworld is in a panic over Pink Diamond's shameless fusion, and it seems that the Diamonds have higher priorities than a loss in injector production. Within a day all the colonies who went on strike the first time (and then some) are non-functioning once again.

* * *

Halfway through the second day of the strike, Echo slips out through the back door and has the Coals barricade it behind her. She wanders the streets of Homeworld, pretending to be on an important errand. In reality, she's searching for someone… someones.

As she walks, she has her screen open, with a symbol that not many will recognise. It's not easily identifiable; you have to look close to even see it. The multiple windows on her screen make a five-pointed star.

In forgotten places, she finds rebels. Off-colors hiding in alleyways, the components of fusions carefully walking hand in hand. She approaches each of them, offering them safety, a place to be free; for now, at least.

When she returns to the factory, she doesn't barricade the back door. Over the course of the next few hours, gems trickle into the factory, where inside these walls they are free from Homeworld's expectations, from the burden of the Diamonds' rule. The door is left open, just in case; a trail is carefully laid in the rebel net, leading any and all outcasts to the factory.

Within these walls, they are free.

* * *

A battle rages outside the walls; the Crystal Gems vs the Diamonds. The rebel net explodes with footage, discussion, and general excitement. The battle seems to end after a while, but no one can really tell who won. The Crystal Gems made it into White Diamond's head, and didn't come back out.

After a few hours, they finally have the answer. After six thousand years of war, the Crystal Gems finally won.

Echo pulls out her little tablet and finds her journal. She adds to it everything that's happened since she last updated a day ago, and publishes the entire thing on the rebel net.

Finally, the barricades are taken down. Off-colors and fusions and thousands of Coals stream into the streets of Homeworld, laughing and singing their way to the capitol.

* * *

_The strike is over_

_The war is done_

_The battle's over_

_The war is won_

_All the outcasts_

_All the gems_

_All the rebels_

_Sing with them,_

_Welcome to Era Three_

_Let us live in peace_

_All the fusions in plain sight_

_All off-colors shining bright_

_Together we will stand_

_In a glorious free land_

_We made it to Era Three_

_Finally we have peace_

Echo sings along with them, wishing she could tell herself five thousand years ago that everything would work out alright.

* * *

**A/N: Well folks, my brain refused to shut up, so I wrote Part 3. Are you happy now, plot gremlins? Are you happy now?! **

**I actually wrote this on the same night as Part 2, but I figured I should give you all some time to digest Part 2 before posting this. Hope you don't mind! This is definitely the end of Strike, thank god.**

**What's that, plot gremlin? You think I should rewrite the entire thing from the perspective of Echo's journal? I don't have time for that! I'm already working on a fan comic, starting a Youtube channel, writing a novel, and I have school! Not to mention the million other WIPs sitting around in my drive that I have yet to finish. Unless the fandom starts screaming at me to write this it is NOT going to happen. **

**Sorry about that. Reviews are appreciated as always!**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	52. Caverns

The Kindergartens beneath the surface of Homeworld used to be crawling with gems. For millennia they were hubs of activity, as new gems were produced every day, each welcomed with open arms into society.

Today, these huge caverns are empty, the exit holes lining the walls the only indication that gems were ever there. Robonoids patrol these areas regularly, but there are some places that are overlooked; forgotten. Occasionally, a patrol route is blocked off, the robonoid unable to continue. When the supervising gem sends down a camera, they find what looks like a rockslide. It's nothing new; Homeworld itself is so unstable it's a miracle the caverns haven't collapsed already. The patrol route is rerouted around the rockslide and business continues as usual.

On the other side of the fake rockslide, a gem smiles and claps her hands. That's another small section of territory secured; maybe they'll have the entire Eastern section made safe within a century. That's a bit optimistic, but she's willing to bet on it. She wouldn't have made it so long down here if she were a pessimist.

* * *

There is a single route to and from the surface, the only place connecting the caverns to the outside world. The staircase has been hand-carved into the rock, spiraling upwards into a place which seems abandoned. It was a building that used to be part of the Pink court, now left standing only as a memorial. Most of the spire is entirely untouched, left to slowly wither away over time. But the ground level, and the basement beneath it, are regularly used as temporary hiding places for off-colors, fusions, and rebels of all kinds. The back door is well-hidden, as is the entrance to the basement. Two gems stand guard at this staircase 24.7; one at the top, and one at the bottom. If the Authority sends anyone to investigate the place, they will be swiftly poofed and bubbled, then hidden within the caverns. This hasn't happened yet, but it might, and being found out is simply not an option.

Within the caverns is the largest colony of rebels on Homeworld, and possibly within the Empire. In this safe place, fusions wander about in plain sight, malformed off-color gems are on equal standing with those who were made "right", and no one has to fear being shattered as they would on the surface. While their ranks are mostly fusions and off-colors, there are some single gems who have come to escape from the surface. Most of these gems are Pearls, for good reason; while the life of a Pearl serving an aristocrat isn't the worst, there are places on Homeworld where Pearls are easily stolen, and used for less noble purposes. Very few of these Pearls ever mention why they came to the Caverns.

There is a very small group of gems who travel back and forth from the surface. They smuggle information, supplies, and new gems into the caverns. It's a risky business, and each of these gems know they cannot under any circumstances let the caverns be discovered. If they are ever in danger of being found out, these gems would shatter themselves rather than be interrogated.

There are some groups of rebels who live outside the safety of the Caverns, in the greater Kindergartens. Some attempts have been made to retrieve them, but it's nearly as risky as venturing to the surface. Many gems have been lost to robonoid patrols while on such missions, so it's very rare that they venture out anymore.

Equally dangerous are the scouting missions, where gems venture out and track Robonoid patrol routes, mapping the Kindergartens and finding strategic places to cause "rockslides" and gain more territory. Some of the Pearls often go on these missions, as many are already used to sneaking around places. Some fusions also volunteer for these missions, generally those who lived on the surface before escaping to the Caverns.

* * *

Amazonite brushes dust out of her hair as she walks back to the main Caverns. Just a few years ago she would've been beside herself with relief from successfully closing off another section of the Kindergartens without being spotted by a robonoid, but now she's gotten so used to it that she's just tired and happy.

"Hey Bronze," she says to the gem guarding the old exit to the tunnel she's just closed off. "All set. Want me to get Cinnabar?"  
"Nah, I'll talk to her myself. My shift's nearly over anyway, Angel should be over here any minute to take over," he says.

"Cool. Did I miss anything while I was out?"

"Two new Pearls came in, but that's about it."

"Hey, that's still interesting!"

"Eh, I don't try to keep track of the Pearls anymore. Too many of them," he says. "Hey, there's Angel. You better get out of here before she talks you into taking her shift."

"Gotcha. Bye!" Amazonite waves and hurriedly walks away, just in time to avoid interacting with Angel Quartz. She's perfectly nice, but one of her powers is persuasion; she can convince you to do just about anything for her, especially if she's trying to get out of doing work. She doesn't realize she's doing it most of the time, so Amazonite can't blame her, but she still avoids her when possible. Bronze is one of the only gems who can stand up to her, Cinnabar being another.

Amazonite spots the new arrivals a mile away. They have the same awestruck look that she remembers having when she first came here; wonder and amazement, coupled with a small dose of fear. They've probably never seen so many "defective" gems in the same place; makes sense considering there's literally no other place in the galaxy with this many of them.

Amazonite walks up to them and smiles, doing her best to seem welcoming despite being nearly twice as tall as them.

"Hey! Are you two new?"

"Um… yes," one of them says. The other Pearl is hiding behind her.

"It's a lot to take in, yeah?"

"It is." the Pearl looks out at the crowd milling about, gems of every size, shape and color dotting the huge cavern.

"I'm Amazonite. You guys got names yet?"

"Not really," she says.

"That's cool. Not everyone needs a name, but if you want one I bet Lilac could help you brainstorm."

"You're a fusion," the other pearl suddenly blurts out.

Amazonite chuckles."Yeah, and?"

"I've never seen a cross-gem fusion before."

"Well I certainly hope I made a good first impression."

"There's really no rules down here? You just get to… do whatever you want?"

"I mean, I'd strongly discourage getting into a fight, but otherwise yeah," Amazonite says. "You can be whoever you want to be."

"...thanks for talking to us," the first Pearl said when it was clear the other one wasn't going to say anything.

"Hey, no problem. I'll see you around, kay?"

"Bye," the other Pearl says quietly as she walks away.

A few days later, Amazonite notices a Pearl fusion walking about. She quietly asks Cinnabar about them. Cinnabar tells her that they don't have a name yet, but she strongly suspects they'll stick around.

Amazonite smiles. She's glad she's an optimist; she always appreciates a happy ending. Although to be fair, to her it's not an ending at all; just the beginning.

As she leaves again to scout out new territories, she wonders whether Cinnabar will let her work with the new Pearl fusion. She has a feeling they'd be a great scout.

* * *

**A/N: I imagine this as being in the same universe as Strike. Looks like I'm not done with plot gremlins after all. Oh well! **

**This story could easily be its own full-length fic, but so could basically all my oneshots, so Imma just tell my brain to shut up now. Knowing my plot gremlins I'm going to end up writing a part 2 of this, so stay tuned. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	53. Bridge

Garnet was never really gone. It took Sapphire a few centuries to realize this, but it was true.

Sapphire could always tell how Ruby was feeling. At first she assumed it was just because she was good at reading her; after all, she _knew_ Ruby, quite possibly better than she knew herself. But then there came times, very occasionally, when they would be nowhere near one another, and yet Sapphire could still feel Ruby, like a dim presence at the back of her mind.

It took some getting used to. In those first few centuries, when they were still figuring everything out, there were often times when they were separated. It was a bit disorienting to be able to feel her without her being there.

But while Ruby was at the back of her mind, Garnet was at the front. Sapphire understood this almost immediately; it was as if Garnet were a sort of invisible guiding presence, the bridge between her and Ruby, always watching and waiting patiently for the time when she could exist again. Her presence only grew stronger as time went on, and as her love for Ruby deepened Sapphire took comfort in that presence, that bridge.

After maybe three centuries on Earth, they finally talked about it.

"Can you sense my emotions, the same way I know how you're feeling?" Sapphire asked. Ruby and her were lying on a grassy hill, looking up at the stars. They were only a short distance from camp, just to be safe; not that anything was ever safe during wartime.

"...yeah," Ruby said. "Of course I can. Kinda glad I'm not the only one," she laughed.

Sapphire smiled. "Can you feel Garnet, too?"

"Yeah. It's kinda weird but also cool?" Ruby shrugged.

"I think it's nice, knowing she's never too far away."

"Heh. I thought it was kinda creepy at first, but now it's comforting."

"Exactly." Sapphire shifted a bit closer to Ruby, reaching for her hand. She took it, so they were lying just inches apart, hand-in-hand.

"Ruby?" Sapphire said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"I think I don't want to be separated anymore. I think I just want to be Garnet."

Ruby blushed. Sapphire quietly put out the small fire that started in the grass.

"Me too," Ruby whispered.

They didn't need to dance, or do much of anything really. All Sapphire had to do was reach across that bridge and open herself up to Ruby, and the next moment Garnet was back.

Garnet let out a sigh of contentment as she lay there with her eyes closed, knowing she'd be sticking around for a very long time.

* * *

It had been a very long time since Sapphire had been alone. When she woke up in a cell onboard the hand ship, with Ruby nowhere to be found, she panicked. It took her a few minutes to remember to reach across the bridge to see if Ruby was okay. She was conscious and unharmed, but she was panicking worse than Sapphire. Sapphire took a few deep breaths to calm herself, then focused on helping Ruby calm down. Panic would get them nowhere; if they were both clear-headed, maybe they could figure out a way to escape.

Ruby did calm down, but just barely. Sapphire let out a long sigh of relief and allowed herself to focus on her own emotions, only for a moment. She was desperately lonely, and afraid, and very close to panicking again at any given moment. She refused to let herself panic, so she sang. She sang that song that was hers, hers and Ruby's, and Garnet's, that she had sang with Ruby when they had only just met. She closed her eye and sang, taking comfort in knowing that wherever she was, at least Ruby was okay.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Steven found her. In hindsight, she should have realized he would be immune to the destabilizing fields, but to be fair that wasn't her top priority right then. Moments after she stepped out of the cell she heard Ruby calling her name, and before she even had time to think she was running towards her with Steven in tow.

She stopped at the edge of a large room, Ruby standing in the opposite doorway. She left Steven behind and ran to embrace her; it had been so long since they were separated, she had forgotten how achingly lonely she was without Ruby. How did she ever stand living like this?

"Did they hurt you?" Ruby already knew the answer, but it was reassuring to hear it out loud nonetheless.

"No, I'm okay. Did they hurt you?"

"Who cares?"

"I do!"

They didn't need to dance, but they did anyway, Sapphire laughing as Ruby lifted her up into the air. Fusion came as naturally to them as breathing; Sapphire reached out across the bridge, and as Ruby reached back it seemed as though the bridge got smaller and smaller, until finally they met in the middle.

* * *

The war for Earth had been going for a good 500 years, and Garnet was almost looking forward to the next battle. They were going after a Homeworld shipyard, which of course would be heavily guarded. None of them liked to admit it, but it was _fun_ to fight when Homeworld actually gave them a challenge, even if it was only the numbers advantage that leveled the playing field. Garnet alone could, and had, taken out entire squadrons of Quartzes on her own; even Homeworld's best soldiers couldn't compete.

Sometimes Homeworld cheated. It seemed like every day they had some new experimental weapon to test out on the battlefield. Destabilizers had become common early on, and while they could cause devastation, they had limits. The Crystal Gems were adaptable, and so they found ways around them. They trained themselves to dodge, to weave around and among their enemies without being hit. They trained themselves in resilience, so that if they were hit they could remain standing at least long enough to get to safety. A few gems, after decades of training, mastered the art of fully resisting a destabilizer's effect.

Garnet was not one of them.

What happened at the battle for the shipyard was an accident, a fluke, a mistake that wouldn't happen again. Garnet was part of the direct assault, taking on Homeworld's ground forces while a second contingent of gems went to disable the fleet. At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly; she had fought battles with much worse odds before, and come out stronger for them. Maybe she was too confident; maybe that's why she messed up. She never was really sure.

Garnet often used her future vision to give her an edge during battle. It was a tricky thing, since going too deep into the future robbed her of real-time perception. While she was fighting her future vision served as advanced reflexes, warning her of attacks moments before they would have landed.

As she poofed another quartz, she suddenly realized that she was about to be attacked from behind. The future vision was a moment too late; she wouldn't be able to move out of the way fast enough, and in that split second she desperately wished she had spent longer on destabilizer training, natural disadvantage be damned. In that split second, she made a decision.

Sapphire fell to the ground and watched as Ruby was poofed in one blow. Without even thinking she darted forward to catch her gem, and sent a spike of ice through the Quartz that had snuck up on them. The battle was raging all around her, making her acutely aware of how vulnerable she was. She levitated a few inches off of the ground and flew away, away from the battle, all the way back to camp.

As she ran, she reached across the bridge to reassure herself that Ruby would be alright, but something was wrong. It was as if a wall had been built across the bridge; the other side was still there, and she could see it, but she couldn't reach it no matter how hard she tried.

She wiped away the tears collecting in her eye and pretended she was okay as she walked into the camp. Only a few gems were left behind, the gems who couldn't or wouldn't fight, and some who volunteered to stay and guard them.

"Yo, Sapphire! You alright?"

Sapphire looked up to find Crazy Lace Agate waving at her, smiling.

"I'm fine. Ruby was poofed, that's all."

"Ah. Gotcha," Crazy Lace said, nodding in understanding. Sapphire smiled; Crazy Lace was a fusion, so she understood the pain of being separated. Sometimes Sapphire wondered whether her components had the same sort of connection as her and Ruby, but she'd never asked. It was a private thing; she knew she'd be uncomfortable if someone asked her about her bond with Ruby. Maybe she'd find out later.

Sapphire sat down on a grassy hill overlooking the camp, holding Ruby's gem close to her chest. After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Ruby's gem began to glow. Sapphire held out her hands so Ruby's gem could float up into the air. Ruby cycled through a couple different forms before finally reforming properly and drifting down to the ground.

In that instant the wall came crumbling down, and Sapphire rushed forwards to embrace Ruby. Without even thinking she reached across the bridge, and Ruby was more than willing to meet her halfway.

* * *

Sapphire smiled. After everything that had happened-bubbling the Cluster, fighting the Diamonds, healing the corrupted Gems, building Little homeworld-she finally felt like the world was at peace.

It had been 5752 years since she and Ruby first fused. It was strange how these things came full circle; now, just like back then, they willingly spent some of their time apart. But being on her own wasn't lonely anymore-far from it.

Even when Ruby was well out of sight, off teaching her own class, Sapphire knew she was not truly alone. The bridge was always there, a comfort rather than a curse, reminding her that Ruby would always be there. Knowing that, and knowing that they'd both grown so much in the past 5000 years, Sapphire finally felt confident enough to navigate the world on her own. She could see the future, after all, and she could see now that no matter what happened, everything would turn out alright.

* * *

**A/N: Salutations, fellow organic life forms! Guess who's actually updating regularly again? I've had a ton of inspiration after the finale of Future, and way more time to write since schools have been closed due to the pandemic. I'm going to be doing daily updates until my inspiration runs dry. That being said, if yall want to give me some requests/prompts I'd greatly appreciate it! **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming! **


	54. Pyrrhic Victory

The Crystal Gems should have won.

Homeworld had the advantage in numbers, but that was all they had: numbers. The Crystal Gems were objectively superior in their strategy, and their individual soldiers. Homeworld had thousands of Quartz soldiers, while the Crystal Gems only numbered in the hundreds, but of those hundreds were gems who were motivated to fight by something far greater than fear; their love of each other, and the planet they fought to defend.

They should have won. They had fusions, some of whom were powerful enough to rival the Diamonds. They had gems who wouldn't be considered fighters normally, who trained hard every single day to prove they were capable; they became the sort of fighters Homeworld wasn't prepared for, those who could slip between their ranks and cut them apart from the inside, or make the very ground beneath their feet open up and swallow armies whole. They had Rose's leadership, Pearl's tactics, and Garnet's unique future vision.

They had bonfires every night, where all 743 of them gathered and laughed and danced, strengthening the bonds that made the Crystal Gems who they are. They had trust; trust in each other, trust in their leader, and trust in themselves.

Homeworld had none of this.

The Crystal Gems should have won.

They had support from galaxies away; entire networks of gems cheering them on from afar, little pockets of quiet rebellion springing up on other colonies, even on Homeworld itself. They had informants planted within the Diamonds' forces, who gave them endless streams of information to win each and every battle; though none of them realized their leader was their best informant as well. They had plans in place to move beyond the Earth, to take down Homeworld's oppressive regime once and for all, if they only had the chance.

The Crystal Gems should have won.

Why didn't they win the war?

There was one other thing Homeworld had that the Crystal Gems didn't: technology. First it was destabilizers, but those were a minor inconvenience at best, to an army who were used to watching each other's backs and protecting vulnerable gemstones. No, what turned the tide of the war in Homeworld's favor was the invention of the Rejuvenator.

The first time the Crystal Gems went up against those weapons, a few more gems were poofed than normal, but they didn't think much of it. But when those gems reformed, it became abundantly clear just how serious the situation was.

They didn't worry about the off-colors; most immediately chose to stay with the Crystal Gems anyway. It was the rest of the gems that were their main concern. Even gems who had been part of fusions would immediately leave, believing themselves to be on the wrong side of the war. The Crystal Gems could do nothing but watch them go; as much as they hated to see it, they believed in freedom, and if these gems wanted to go back to Homeworld, then so be it.

Those off-colors who stayed did eventually regain their memories, after months of living among the Crystal Gems, being told stories of their former selves. But by the time this revelation came, it was too late.

Rose made a rash decision. In hindsight, it was obvious, but right then she was incredibly scared. More gems were being lost every day, and they were starting to get overwhelmed. She was afraid for them, because every gem who left was a friend to mourn, and she didn't want to lose anyone else. So she played her trump card, the final act to end the war; she faked her own shattering.

The Crystal Gems should have won. In the end, they achieved a kind of Pyrrhic victory; the Earth was safe, for now, but it couldn't possibly be worth their loss.

* * *

**A/N: So I know I've interpreted the Gem war a bit differently from canon, but honestly, the CGs were way overpowered when you think about it, especially compared to Homeworld's armies. I firmly believe they could have won the war outright if Rose hadn't faked her shattering. **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	55. Rose's Fountain

"There's too many," Rose said. It was the middle of the night, several hours after a long battle for a Homeworld fort. She was sitting in a tent with tear stains on her cheeks, watching the last of the healed gems walk away.

"What do you mean?" Pearl asked, reaching over to wipe away the last of Rose's tears.

"I could keep up when there were just a few of us," Rose said. "But more and more gems are cracked in each battle. I'm worried that soon I won't be able to heal them all."

"...oh," Pearl said. "It did take half a day this time…"

"Exactly. What happens when gems start falling apart in line? What then?" Rose had no tears left to cry, but she was hunched over, shaking with silent sobs.

"Oh Rose…" Pearl wrapped her arms around Rose's neck, wishing she knew how to comfort her better.

"If only I didn't have to do it all alone…" Rose said.

Pearl suddenly stood up. "What if you didn't have to?"

"What?"

"Your tears still work when they're diluted, right?" Pearl said. "I'm not sure how far we could push that, but…"

"What are you suggesting?" Rose asked.

"What if we made some kind of fountain? Where gems can go and get healed without having to come straight to you," Pearl said. "We'll use your tears and dilute them as much as possible, and then we probably won't need to replenish it!"

"Pearl, you wonderful genius!" Rose stood up and hugged Pearl, lifting her into the air.

"Ah- it's nothing really…" Pearl said, blushing.

"Don't you dare say that, it's a great idea," Rose said. "Oh! We should ask Bismuth to build it!"

"We should," Pearl said as Rose let her down. "Why don't I go talk to Bismuth? You've had a long day already; get some rest before we need to leave."

"Ah. Right," Rose said, visibly deflating.

"...I'll see you soon," Pearl said, and left the tent.

* * *

The fountain was constructed within days, Bismuth working day and night supervising the small crew building it. Every detail had to be perfect, from the perfectly smooth basin to the massive statue of Rose in the center. Intricate, magical systems were set up to ensure that the water would constantly circulate, to ensure the healing liquid was spread throughout.

Rose returned just in time to see its completion. The fountain was filled with water; all that was left was to add the healing tears. So Rose sat on the edge of the fountain and cried for hours on end, with Pearl, Garnet, and Bismuth by her side the whole time.

It wasn't until a good century later that they installed a warp pad, along with magical plant guardians to keep any Homeworld gems out. This became one of their greatest resources throughout the rest of the war, as injured gems could simply run to the nearest warp pad and heal themselves within minutes before joining the fight once again.

The fountain was purposefully built in a secluded location, far away from all the fighting. It was high up in the mountains, surrounded by forest and steep hills on all sides. There was room for a few tents, but not much else. So the main camp remained near the center of the fighting, as always, and the fountain was a temporary retreat; nothing more.

It was a wonder that Homeworld never found the fountain. The Crystal Gems took extensive measures to ensure its security, but most (if not all) of them believed that it would be attacked some day, just like every other settlement or camp they had established.

Homeworld probably would have found it, eventually. They just ran out of time.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for missing a day! I started on a different story that ended up being a LOT more complicated than I expected and I kinda got stuck. I've set that one aside for now so I can work on building up a good buffer of content for yall.**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming! **


	56. Before the War (Part 2)

Peridot emerged thousands of years after the War, well into era 2.

She was not unique. There were millions of other peridots just like her, each fitting into the same limb enhancer set, each with the same screens and lasers, each with the same purpose.

Peridot strove to rise above the rest. She had a slight advantage; her gem placement, and the base personality that came with it, was quite helpful in her line of work. She was a logical thinker, and could easily find solutions to problems that other peridots struggled with.

But she was not perfect.

Peridot knew much more than she should. Sometimes she was a little too good at her job; she didn't question what she was doing as she hacked into secure files about the War, in preparation for a job involving the prototype clusters.

What she found would change her life forever.

The war wasn't talked about in era 2. The gems who lived through that time didn't want to relive it, and the gems who were born after simply weren't told. Peridot had been born into a world with only 3 diamonds, where the slightest deviation from the norm could have you shattered.

To learn that there was a time when rebels flourished- she couldn't even begin to imagine it.

Peridot was sent to Earth when she was 8 years old. She knew she wouldn't come back- but it turned out to be for a very different reason than she first thought.

* * *

Lapis was made to terraform. That was her purpose- to reshape the land, by moving the water. She dried up countless oceans, storing a near-infinite supply of water in her gem as a result. Water was a nuisance when it came to colonisation; the process required extensive digging, and that would be difficult if the caverns flooded.

But sometimes water was necessary. On many planets, great underwater temples and spires were erected, a symbol of the Diamonds' power; after all, if they could defeat this element, they could defeat anything.

Water was powerful. This, Lapis knew. She had used oceans to move mountains, to reshape planets in their entirety. Once, she had taken all the water vapor from a gas giant, and used it to extinguish an eternal flame on a planet that had been recently hit by a meteor.

She had never considered that water could be used to fight. Lapis Lazulis were frail; one hit, and they poofed. Lapis wasn't designed to fight. That was a job for Quartzes, Rubies, Onyxes- not her.

As Lapis warped to Earth, she thought of it as just another colony. Another world to terraform, to reshape to the Diamonds' liking.

Only one Lapis Lazuli was sent to each colony. That was all they needed.

Lapis could destroy the planet with a flick of her wrist. It took thousands of workers to make a dent.

Lapis Lazuli was powerful. She just didn't know it yet.

* * *

**A/N: Behold, Part 2! Found this lying around in my archives, I have no idea why I didn't post it months ago. Maybe I'll do some more characters in this series later… we'll see! **

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	57. Searching for Home

There were places on Earth that not even the Diamonds dared venture into; but the Crystal Gems did. They crossed deserts, swam through seas, went deep underground and high into the atmosphere. Everywhere they went, they found these places, nooks and crannies that were so hidden, Homeworld might not ever touch them.

In the early days of the rebellion, the Crystal Gems were nomadic. They were always moving, Homeworld not far behind them, finding places to rest before moving on again. The few gems who were there at the start grew tired quickly; Rose knew that they couldn't continue on this way forever.

So, she decided to explore on her own. Every time a Crystal Gem found one of these hidden places, she would go and see for herself. She loved exploring, and getting to learn new things about Earth, but all this was for a purpose; to find the Crystal Gems a home.

Finally, Rose decided on a place to call home. It was hidden deep within Earth's great forests, in a valley within a long mountain range. They erected tents, which were supposed to be temporary, but ended up serving as their base for the duration of the war.

They called it their camp, at first; they were used to moving from place to place, never staying there long. But when Rose made it clear that they wouldn't be moving again, they began coming up with different names for it. The Encampment, while not very creative, was the one that won out in the end; though some still had their own names for it.

Over the course of the war, this place became more than just somewhere to rest between battles. It became a sanctuary, a place for the Crystal Gems to be free where Homeworld couldn't find them.

Gems would sit around a fire, telling stories about imagined times to come, of an Earth where everywhere was like this; safe and free.

Rose smiled as she looked over the courtyard. She never did decide on a name for the place; after all, she was content to call it home.

* * *

**A/N: In case you couldn't tell, my inspiration has run a bit dry so I'm going back to posting basically at random. You all should probably get used to it if you haven't already. **

**Question for yall: would you want to see more miniseries on here? Like Moving On or Before the War(which I am working on, I swear). Or would you like more stand-alone stories? Write a review and TELL ME!**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	58. Bad Days

Sometimes, Amazonite has bad days. Those days are few and far between, and have grown ever rarer the longer she's been in the Caverns, but they happen. Everyone down here gets them, she's certain; save for a few lucky gems who have lived their whole lives in the Caverns.

Amazonite is an optimist. She's always the one to find the bright side, even when the situation seems hopeless. When they lost five gems in one go to an altered robonoid patrol, she was the one to organize the memorial and give a speech. She's the one that gems can lean on during their bad days, and she's always happy to help. She's one of the best scouts they have, and is single handedly responsible for claiming around 10% of the Caverns' territory.

But even Amazonite has bad days.

They come when she remembers something she'd rather not, or a week after the latest tragedy. They can come completely unprompted, or as a result of a minor argument. They can suddenly hit halfway through a sentence, or build up over several days.

Most of the time she's lucky enough to be safely within the Caverns when they hit. On those days, she disappears. No one asks where she's gone, or why she disappears once in a while. Everyone has bad days, after all; they understand.

She has a place she likes to go on these bad days. It's an old part of the Caverns, one of the first places she scouted way back when. It's difficult to get to, thanks to several rockslides that have happened since then, but she always finds a way.

In that cavern is a waterfall. There isn't much water on Homeworld, and all of it is underground. Sometimes Amazonite wonders where it comes from, but she hasn't ever really tried to find out. It's more fun to imagine it just magically appears out of thin air to create this spectacle just for her.

Sitting next to the waterfall, the roar of the rushing waters is overwhelming, yet calming. It drowns out all her thoughts and clears her mind. Sometimes she only needs to sit there for a few minutes before she can think again; other times it takes up to a week. But in the end, it always works; the bad days end, and she goes back to being the cheerful optimist that everyone can lean on.

Amazonite is glad that her bad days are few and far between. Not everyone in the Caverns is so fortunate. She hopes that someday she'll have the strength to help them all; but for now, she's focused on helping herself.

* * *

**A/N: So I had a fight with one of my friends and I've been having a shitty day. Quarantine is not good for my mental health, but expressing through random stories has been helping a whole lot.**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming! **


	59. Bad Days (Part 2)

Those bad days are worse for some than others. In Cinnabar's case, she has long since learned how to push through the bad days. She's the leader of the Caverns; she can't afford to take a day off. Every day it feels like there's a new crisis, something else she has to solve. She's eternally grateful for the people around her and all that they do, but in the end she's the one who makes the tough decisions, who takes the blame when things go wrong, who shoulders the burden of the entire Caverns and would gladly do so again.

Cinnabar's bad days are just nagging thoughts. Memories that won't leave her alone, of mistakes made in centuries past, mistakes that cost her dearly. Mistakes that she vowed she would never make again. She has learned to accept these thoughts, and harness them. She has learned that so long as she does not allow herself to wallow in the past, she can remember those mistakes and apply what she's learned to whatever problem she needs to solve now. Sometimes she wishes she could take one day off, but the simple truth is that she doesn't have that luxury. That's fine with her, though. She's needed here, and she can't think of anywhere she'd rather be.

* * *

For Bronze, bad days are overwhelming. Sometimes they stretch into weeks, months, years of being unable to think clearly or do much of anything. He has also learned to channel those bad days, but his method is a bit more… violent.

Cinnabar can recognise when Bronze has a bad day. On those days, she sends him out of the Caverns. She sends him on the dangerous scouting missions, on the risky retrieval missions, out into the open where robonoids lurk and he could be shattered at any moment.

When she can, she sends Angel with him, just to make sure he won't do anything too stupid. For the past 23000 years or so, he's always returned successful.

Once, he disappeared for an entire year. When he came back, he said nothing about where he had been, only that the mission was complete. He had gone alone that time, and so Cinnabar decided it wasn't worth pestering him to find out. He was back; that was what mattered. Still, she hasn't sent him out alone since.

* * *

Angel's bad days can wreak havoc on the caverns. Cinnabar has learned to recognise these, too, and find somewhere isolated for Angel to stay. She tries, but doesn't always succeed. Once, Angel's powers got so out of control that half the gems of the Caverns poofed themselves just because she told them to. It would have been all of them if Cinnabar hadn't intervened then. She was one of the only gems who could resist Angel's power, though it wasn't easy; she had been just as vulnerable as all of them at first, but she's been around Angel for so long now that she's built up a tolerance.

Bronze can resist her power too, for the same reason as Cinnabar, which is part of why she has the two of them work together so often. Often, when she doesn't have the time to deal with Angel's bad days, she sends Bronze to take care of her. She has a feeling he knows her better; Angel always seems to rebound faster when Bronze is the one to stay with her.

It makes sense, in a way, Cinnabar thinks sadly. She's been in this role of leader for so long that even the gems she's known for millennia are closer to each other than to her. But it's alright, it's okay, she doesn't mind, really. She has to be the one to take this role, because if she doesn't, who will?

Everyone in the Caverns has bad days. Cinnabar won't admit that hers have been getting worse.

* * *

**A/N: I'm thinking about moving the stories in this universe (Caverns and Strike) into their own fic, but I also kind of want to write Echo's journal and tons of other stuff, and I'm not sure how coherent it would be on its own. Do you guys want to see this universe separated from If Only We Would Listen, or just leave it here? Leave a review and let me know!**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!**


	60. The Staircase

The Caverns started out like any other group of off-colors. It was only four of them at the start; Cinnabar, Angel Quartz, Bronze, and Amazonite. They picked an old section of kindergarten, walled it off, and hid there with the intention to stay forever. Most groups like these were either discovered by robonoids or wasted away forever, but not them. Something different happened instead.

* * *

Amazonite is restless. She has been since they finished walling off their little cavern. She paces around in circles, climbs up and down the walls lined with exit holes, and pesters Bronze relentlessly while he tunes her out.

"Will you shut up!" Angel shouts. Amazonite freezes mid-sentence. She suddenly feels overwhelmingly guilty over her actions, and goes to find an exit hole to hide in. Still, she can't help but tap her fingers against the floor, searching for something, anything to do.

"You didn't have to do that, Angel," Cinnabar says.

"Huh?" Angel looks up at her, confused. It dawns on her a moment later. "Oh. I didn't mean to use my power, I swear."

"I know you didn't. I just want you to be aware of it, that's all," Cinnabar says patiently. Amazonite can't help but admire how incredibly calm Cinnabar manages to be; it's as if she really has no problem with being trapped underground like this, with no way out.

It really gets to her, though.

"We need a back exit," Amazonite says suddenly, standing up and barely avoiding hitting her head on the top of the exit hole. "Like an emergency escape route, just in case we get found."

"Where? How? Is that even a good idea?" Bronze says, glancing at Cinnabar.

"I mean, it can't be that far to the next cavern," Amazonite says. "I bet you could bust right through the wall, Bronze."

"I don't think you should just start breaking through rock," Cinnabar says. "You'd have to go out and check, find a place where the wall is thin and structurally sound."

"Then I'll go out and look! Problem solved," Amazonite says.

"Wait, what? You can't just go!" Angel stands up, unconsciously moving to block the exit. "What if you get hurt?"

"I'll be fine," Amazonite insists. "I'll be gone less than a day, you'll see. Just trust me."

"I don't know…" Cinnabar stands to the side, looking between Amazonite and Angel. "I don't like the idea of you being out there all alone."

"I'm not alone. Remember?" Amazonite gestures to her gems.

"Come on guys, just let her go," Bronze says. "You know you can't really stop her."

"I mean, I could," Angel says, but backs down at the ensuing glares from the others. "But I won't! Because that's bad! Right!"

"I'll see you guys soon. Promise," Amazonite says. "Might need your help, though. Just keep an ear out, alright? I'm gonna try to use sound to figure out where the wall is thinnest."

"Good luck," Cinnabar says. Amazonite shapeshifts smaller to squeeze through their makeshift blockade, then starts running through the tunnels.

* * *

Amazonite spots a robonoid patrol a few minutes after exiting her cavern. She looks around, but can't find any cover. Thinking quickly, she runs towards the robonoid, and carefully slips around it to avoid the scanner. She follows just behind the robonoid for a tense half-hour, constantly watching to make sure it won't turn around and find her. Finally, they come across the entrance to a new tunnel, and Amazonite ducks down it. That was far too close.

She keeps going down the tunnel until it turns left and opens into another kindergarten cavern. She locates the wall that should be closest to her own cavern, then crawls into an exit hole and knocks on the stone. A minute later, a knock sounds back. It's faint, but there.

She spends an hour or so checking all of the exit holes in the area, searching the one where the wall is the thinnest. Eventually she finds it and knocks over and over, then scrambles backwards. A moment later, Bronze crashes right through the stone.

"Nice to know you're not dead," he says once he's done coughing the dust out of his lungs.

"Nice to know you didn't go crazy while I was gone," Amazonite says.

"That was possibly the stupidest idea you've ever had. Well done," Cinnabar says, grinning. "Now all we have to do is block off that cavern and we'll be good.

"And what if we had a way to block this off too?" Amazonite says. "Like we just hit a button and it gets blocked off, so then if we get discovered we can just run to the other room."

"You know, that doesn't actually sound that unreasonable," Angel says. "I think we should do it."

"See?" Amazonite says triumphantly.

"I agree," Bronze says.

"Alright then," Cinnabar says. "Let's get to it."

* * *

That first cavern is only the beginning. Over the next few centuries, they continue to expand, blocking off more and more tunnels, creating spaces hidden from the Robonoid patrols. They find other off-colors hiding in their own caverns, and bring them to their safe space. Eventually it becomes known as the Caverns, a safe haven for off-colors everywhere.

Amazonite never stops to rest. She's rarely in the Caverns for more than a week, always going off on more scouting missions, blocking off more caverns, finding more off-colors and mapping patrols. Her mission is to provide safety to as many off-colors as she can; still, she can't stand staying inside, she has to go out and put herself in danger. Even with much more to do within the caverns these days, and with so much more room within them, she feels trapped in those caves.

So it's no surprise that Amazonite proposes building the staircase.

"I know the new cavern is right underneath Facet 8," Amazonite says to Cinnabar. "And you know that was part of the Pink court. You know Daisy, the newest Pearl? She told me that all of the old Pink court buildings are completely abandoned. I don't know how true that is, but I'm willing to take the risk to scout up there."

"What are you suggesting?" Cinnabar says.

"I want to build a route to the surface," Amazonite explains. "Something small, a way for off-colors on the surface to get down here without going through the more dangerous tunnels. It'd be heavily guarded, of course, and we'd have a way to block it off if we're discovered…"

"Go for it," Cinnabar says, smiling. "I know by now that I should trust your judgement on these things. If you think you can do it, then go for it."

Amazonite grins. "Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it."

* * *

The surface has barely changed in all the years she's been underground. Amazonite still knows every back alley, every rarely-used service corridor, every trick of the trade to hide in plain sight. Her new shawl keeps one of her gems covered, allowing her to pass as a normal Amazonite from a distance. She keeps her head down as she walks, not making eye contact with anyone. After what feels like an eternity, she crosses over into Facet 8.

She can feel the change in atmosphere immediately. No gems wander the streets here, though she gets the feeling she's not alone. She can hear the soft whirring of a robonoid on patrol in the distance, far enough away not to be a concern. She pauses for a brief moment to get her bearings; she knows the caverns below by heart, and after a few seconds figures out where she is in relation to them. Just a few more blocks, and she'll be right above the newest addition to the Caverns.

She walks briskly, on high alert. She doesn't need to be inconspicuous, but she does need to be careful. She has no idea what kind of gems inhabit this abandoned area; off-colors almost certainly, but to survive on the surface takes much more tenacity than hiding in the underground. These gems could be the sort to take advantage of others less fortunate; to jump on any opportunity to gain some semblance of safety.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees movement in an alley. She keeps walking. She hears footsteps behind her, poorly concealed. She keeps walking. A projectile shoots past her ear and lodges in the building at the end of the block; a dagger. She keeps walking.

She turns around and knocks the gem off her feet, the gem's weapon disappearing into fragments of light.

"Nice try," Amazonite says.

"You're new," the gem says. She stands up, dusting herself off. She's a fusion, some kind of red gem.

"Not exactly," Amazonite says. "Up here, sure."

"Up here?" the gem looks around, then at the ground. "You're from the underground."

"That's right. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mission to finish," she says, turning and continuing to walk towards her destination.

"Wait!" the red gem follows her, falling into step beside her. "Uh, I'm Almandite."

"Amazonite. What do you want?"

"Um, I know my way around up here. I can be your guide… if you tell me about the underground."

"What do you want to know?"

"How do you get there?"

"You fall." Amazonite turns right. They're almost there. "There's a few good places in Facet 3."

"And after that?"

"Wander until you run into someone. Pray the robonoids don't find you first."

Amazonite pauses in front of a building. The placement couldn't be more perfect; this old spire is right above the newest cavern. If they just dig straight down from inside, they could create a hidden route into the Caverns.

"What are you doing up here, anyway?" Almandite asks.

Amazonite doesn't answer. She walks up to the door and tries the button, but the electricity isn't working. Probably hasn't been for centuries. She forces her fingers into the crack in the door and pulls one side open.

The inside of the spire looks like it hasn't been touched in eons. A thick layer of dust covers everything, from the marble floors to the statue of Pink Diamond in the center of the room. A staircase leading to higher floors runs along the left wall, while another one going down to the basement has been blocked off by haphazardly piled furniture and rocks.

"Anything I should know about this place?" Amazonite asks.

"Not that I know of," Almandite says.

Amazonite walks over to the barricade and starts carefully dismantling it. She hears something from below, but can't tell whether it's a person or just part of the barricade coming loose. As soon as the way is clear, she cautiously descends the stairs.

The basement is smaller than she expected, and is pitch black. She removes her shawl and lights up both of her gems. She can now see a group of three Pearls huddled in the corner, looking up at her with terror in their eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," Amazonite says.

One of the pearls scrambles to her feet, standing in front of the other two. Amazonite stands still, waiting for them to let her approach.

"...who are you?" the pearl asks.

"Amazonite. I'm from the Caverns."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm on a scouting mission."

"Scouting for what?"

"A place to build a staircase."

"Wait, a staircase?" she says. "Like, down to the underground?"

"Yes."

"I think we can trust her," the pearl on the left says.

"...fine," the first pearl relents. "I'm Jasmine. These are my sisters."

"Nice to meet you." Amazonite crouches, examining the floor. Marble, but not thick. She taps it experimentally, confirming that there is only solid rock below an inch of marble, all the way down to the roof of the cavern below them.

Amazonite has what she needs. She doesn't have the power to start work on her own, of course; that was never the goal, anyway. She stands up and heads for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Jasmine says, confused.

"Back home." Amazonite pauses, turning around. "You want to come?"

"Is it safe?"

"Yes. Pretty much the safest you can get on Homeworld."

"Then we'll come." Jasmine takes the hands of the other Pearls and guides them behind her. Amazonite nods, then keeps moving, up and out into the world.

The walk back to the edge of Facet 8 feels faster than the trip in, maybe because they aren't being stalked by anyone. Amazonite pauses a block from the border, turning to Almandite.

"You stay here," Amazonite says.

"What? Why?" Almandite asks, clearly hurt. "You said it's not hard to get to the Caverns."

"More gems will be here soon. To build the staircase. They'll need a guide," Amazonite explains.

Almandite pauses for a moment, deliberating, then slowly nods.

"Alright, but you bet I'll be the first one down that stupid staircase, you hear?"

Amazonite nods. There's nothing left to say.

* * *

Amazonite and the three Pearls make it back to the caverns intact, though just barely. Amazonite leads a team to the surface to start work on the staircase only a week later, and the work is ongoing from there. It's risky, of course; until the staircase is complete, anyone working topside has to cross through Homeworld proper to get to and from the Caverns, putting them at risk every time. Some gems are lost, caught and shattered. Even Amazonite is caught once, though she escapes, barely.

It takes a year of work by dozens of gems, but the staircase is completed, only slightly behind schedule. A spiral staircase, with a clear space in the center for gems who can fly, enough space for the tallest of their fusions but small steps to accommodate the Pebbles among them.

There are debates over who should guard it. Many gems volunteer, from off-colors to fusions to Pearls, but in the end it is decided that the top of the staircase is the Pearls' domain. Those who know the surface, who are practiced at remaining inconspicuous, but who also have enough combat training to subdue anyone who is a threat to the Caverns' safety. The base of the staircase is guarded by fusions, the most powerful among them, capable of instantly poofing any gems who get past the Pearls.

Privately, Amazonite thinks Angel ought to stand guard. Not that she'd agree to it, but she could send any gem away with just a few words and probably convince them not to tell anyone as well. It would be the perfect solution, if not for the fact that Angel detests guard duty, going so far as to manipulate other gems into taking her place on multiple occasions. Cinnabar has griped about her to Amazonite (privately) more times than she can count.

But what's done is done. The staircase is finished and relatively secure. Amazonite wants to keep expanding on the surface, into the ruins of Facet 8, but that's a project for next century. Cinnabar will never agree to it now, she knows that. But maybe someday.

Maybe someday, all of Homeworld will be made safe. But for now, the staircase is a good start.

* * *

**A/N: What's this, an update? That's right! I finally have motivation to write again! That being said I have zero buffer right now so updates will remain sporadic, but hopefully still fairly frequent. **

**When I look back at this story, I can't help but cringe at the earliest one-shots. I posted the first one on June 9th, 2019, over a year ago. I can't believe how much my writing has changed and improved since then, but it has, and this story has been a huge part of that. I haven't always been updating regularly, but these random oneshots have taught me a lot about storytelling and how to compress all the things I want to write into these easily-digestible chunks. **

**I'm going to keep working on this story. I'm going to keep writing one-shots, and I'll post them, even if they're terrible. I've had a LOT of hiatuses in the past (possibly rivaling that of the show), and I'll have even more in the future I'm sure, but I'm not ready to leave this fandom behind just yet.**

**Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming. **


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